By BARRY LAKE
17 July 2006

There are many things one could say about the all-new, all-aluminium Jaguar XK8. It is technically advanced, stylish, quick and competent.

But the major impression it left on this writer was its split personality.

On the one hand it is a comfortable Grand Touring (GT) car that lopes along, gobbling up the kilometres with ease, while transporting the occupants in comfort and luxury.

But push it harder on a tight and twisting road and it becomes a surprisingly agile, fun to drive sports car. It has a superb combination of handling and ride provided by its reduced weight and the cheekily-termed Computer Active Technology Suspension, with the acronym of CATS. (Jaguars are colloquially called cats by those who love this great British marque.)

The ZF six-speed automatic transmission is similarly versatile. Leave it in Drive and it makes city driving and grand touring a doddle.

Move the shift lever across to Sport mode and the computer adapts the shift patterns to the driver’s current style of driving.

Sure, we’ve heard and experienced all of that before. But never like this.

Some very clever software has converted this widely-used transmission into a smooth changing unit with none of the slurring of changes of other autos. The shifts are quick, smooth and positive, whether going up or down through the ratios.

In Sports mode, it has an incredible ability to sense exactly what the driver wants. When the driver is shifting manually via the steering wheel mounted F1-style paddles, the box provides the driver with the desired gear even faster, smoother and more positively than he could have managed with even the best of manual shifts.

The 4.2 litre V8 engine, a development of that in the earlier XK8, doesn’t have the sheer brute force of some of this car’s immediate rivals (224 kW at 6000 rpm, 420 Nm at 5600 rpm). But the performance, even accelerating from a standing start, beats that of most of the others thanks to this new car’s lower weight (1635 kg). It has the best weight/power ratio in its class.

Made entirely from aluminium, with panels rivetted and bonded using aircraft style technology, the Jag’s mono construction body/chassis unit contributes to a total weight that is 90 kg lighter than its equivalent forebear (more for the convertible version). Yet it is considerably stiffer, facilitating better handling and greater interior space and comfort.

Seated in either of the leather-clad front seats, you don’t feel that slightly claustrophobic air of most other sporting coupes. The cabin has a spacious feel about it. This is not the case in the "occasional" rear seats, however, which have the usual lack of leg room typical of such cars - although we did transport an adult in the rear for a short journey.

The XK8 has departed from the "Old English" Jaguar style of multiple switches and masses of wood grain. The new dash style is modern, simple, easy to use, at the risk of looking austere. You can’t please everyone, but for those who crave the "olde world" Jaguar image, there is the option of a wood-grained panel on the glove box lid. The other option is modern brushed aluminium.

Boot space is good for this type of car and the entire rear lifts up, hatchback style, so trips to the local golf course are no hassle.

In recent decades, Jaguar had slipped dramatically from its glory days of the 1950s XK sports cars (the XK120, XK140 and the XK150) and the much-loved E-type sports car of the 1960s. The touring car models lost their sense of style, true sports cars were conspicuous by their absence, quality and reliability deteriorated.

Attempts by new owner, the Ford Motor Company, to revive the marque with models based on Ford underpinnings were less than successful. Jaguar had become a lost cause of motoring.

That this dramatic and stylish looking new XK has, within one model, eradicated almost all of these negatives is a fact as exciting as it is surprising. We say "almost all" because only time will tell if quality, reliability and dependability have taken a similar leap forward - although we suspect they have.

The good news is that the price tag is just $199,900, making it relatively affordable for a car in this rarefied class. The bad news is that only 60 of these big cats have been earmarked for Australia for the rest of this year - all of which have been sold. The waiting list already stretches to May 2007.