Big Cat Diary
by David Finlay (29 Nov 06)

Tuesday: I don't care what anyone else thinks - the basic shape of the XJ may date back nearly forty years, but it deserves to because it's one of the motor industry's great designs, and I love it. I wish it wasn't silver, though. As far as I'm concerned, XJs are British Racing Green and that's all there is to it. But I'm not going to let colour prejudice stand in the way of my enjoyment of this splendid car.

Not that it's without its problems. The last person who drove the test XJ was considerably shorter than I am, and I need to adjust the seat, steering wheel, mirrors and pedals. (Note: why don't more manufacturers make their pedals adjustable?) The only snag is that the rear part of the seat bench can't be lowered. There's a button for this purpose, but when I press it the only result is a disapproving click, so for the first day of this test I feel like I'm driving the car standing up. This is not a great start.

Rather more positively, after 336 miles on the motorway the fuel gauge tells me that I've used only slightly more than half a tank of diesel. It must be optimistic. Surely I'm not going to be able to drive 600 miles without refuelling?

Wednesday: I won't find out today because I put a mere 64 miles on the clock. Plenty of good news, though. The seat adjustment has returned and I can now sit in a position which lets me enjoy the XJ's amazingly comfortable ride. And I get my first chance to test out the satellite navigation, since I have to negotiate a town I've never visited before during the evening rush hour. The display screen is mounted halfway up the centre console, which is a bit too low for convenience, but the system works splendidly.

Thursday: A much longer run today. Once I've dialled in the next destination, the satnav tells me it's 250 miles away, and even though I've been behind the wheels of several other cars already - a bit of off-roading, a bit of performance testing on a mountain course - the idea of driving the XJ for four hours or so is a very appealing one.

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