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New Jaguar sedan a thirsty cat

From page 34

light up the tires when
floored. It’s geared like
most European cars fora
gentle takeoff.

In addition, the standard
traction control won't allow
wheel slip.

However, soon after, the
XJR accelerate like a Boving
777, and before you know it
you're up to cruising speed.
Zero to 100 km-h comes up
quickly in about 5.5 sec-
onds.

The engine also has plen-
ty of high-end passing
power, and long highway
Urives are a breeze.

A pleasant surprise for
me was that the super
charged V8 engine is much
quieter than the previous
supercharged six-cvlinder
engine.

In fact, it’s quicter than
every previous. supercharged
car that I've driven.

Jaguar’s 4.0-litre V8
engine is one of the nicest
contemporary V8 engines
available, with a nice even
torque curve, a high rev
limit, and plenty of power
when you need it. It fea-

tures twin overhead
camshatts on cack evlinder
bank and four valves per

evlinder.

Fuel consumption, of
course, is thirsty, Transport
Canada fuel consumption

“A fast, heavy car
like this needs
good brakes, and
I found the
standard four
wheel disc brakes
with ABS were
almost too

good .

ratings are 14.4 1/100 km
(20 m.p.g.) in the city, and
10.0 L/100 km (28 m.p.g.:
on the highway, but that’s
under ideal conditions. I
suspect this engine will eat a
lot more gas if vou put vour
foot into it.

The new five-speed auto-
matic transmission responds
so quickly, appropriately and

uneventfully, that vou hardly
notice it’s there — certainly
2 good recommendation.
The floor-mounted trans-
mission lever retains Jaguar's
unique U-shaped gate.

The shift lever can be
moved trom one side (P, R.
N. DP) to the other (2, 3, 4).

This gives the driver the
option of shifting manually
with the lowest gear at the
top and the highest gear at
the botton.

However, it’s not a true
semi-automatic transmission
like Porsche's Tiptronic.

A fast, heavy car like this
needs good brakes, and J
found the standard four
wheel dise brakes with ABS
were almost too good —

a Fit sensitive for my liking.
The redesigned interior
has three individual pods for
the tachometer, speedome-
ter, and coolant/tuel gauges

and a small, chromed ana-
logue clock in the centre of
the dash. Most of the major
heating and sterco controls
have been concentrated in a
centrally-positioned pod
with a low-glare black matte
finish.

The perforated leather

Technical Data 1998 Jaguar XJR

Wheelbase: 2870 mm (113.0 in.)
Length: 4988 mm (196.4 in.)
Width: 2076 mm ( 81.7 in.)

Base price:S92,900
Type: four-door, five-passenger
tull-size sedan

Layout: longitudinal front engine /rear-

whceel-drive

Engine: 4.0-litre V8, supercharged, 32

valves, DOHC
Horsepower:
Torque: 387 @ 3600 rp.m.
Curb weight: 1848 kg (4,075

370 @ 6150 p.m.

Height: 133'

(12.7 cu. ft.)

n1p.g.)
Ibs.)

9 mm (53.1 in.)
Trunk capacity: 360 litres

Fuel consumption: City — 14.4 1./100 km
(20 m.p.g.); Hwy ~ 10.0 1.7100 km (28

Warranty: tour years/80,000 km

Seats offer excellent support
and have seat heaters, front
and rear — however, it was
too hot for my posterior.

The fit, finish and
appearance of the XPR's
interior is first class, with
double: stitched Connolly
leather seats, consale, and
armrests, chrome Gin on
the doors, door hares, and
speakers, and generous use
of bird's eye maple wood
trim.

You can’t help feeling
wealthy in a Jaguar XJR.

The XJR has plenty of
front and rear legroom, and
adequate headroom, though
the root is not as call as
those of a Mercedes-Benz
S-Class or BMW 7-Scries.

A single wiper blade
clears the cnure windshield
with one sweep, but it does-
n’t quite reach the top lett
hand corner of the wind-
shield.

To clear ice and fog
from the front windshield,
there is fine heatabie mesh
imbedded in the glass. I
found this mildly ‘distracting
at night when oncoming
headlights illuminated the
mesh.

The price of all this luxu-
rv and power is $92,900
(plus freight, PST and a
GST fuxury tax of 10%).
That's certainly competitive
with BMW, Mercedes-Benz
and Audi. However, the rea-
son tor buying an X)R is
one of emotion, not value.

There is no other luxurv
car that compares with
the X}R's sexy good looks,
opulent interior, excellent
handling and awesome
power,

Paciti¢c

Friday, February 20, 1998 - North Shore News - 35

Honda
Wins award

PACIFIC Honda, one of the oldest
Honda dealerships in Canada, was
recently presented the Honda Total
Quality Dealer Award.

The award, offered to only three of the more than 30

» Honda stores in British Columbia, is based on a 12 month

audit of the dealerships performance in every aspeet of the
operation, Customer service is a critical factor in the awards
determination along with dealership appearance and overall
financial performance.

Pacific Honda general manager Jack Irwin received the
award at a gaia in Toronto trom Honda Canada president I.
Shimizu.

“Service is the kev to our success,” Irwin said. “T like to
think we run a happy dealership where the customer feels
good about purchasing and maintaining his or her car. We
are also fortunate to have a product to sell whose quality isa
benchmark for the industry.”

The dealership opened in 1974 and started our selling a
few Civics a month at $2,500 apiece.

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