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Anyone who has been following my reviews through the years knows how much I love Jaguars. The late Jeff Lawson, who began the design of the current XJ8, had a habit of referring to "Jaguar DNA." My guess is that if you were to take my DNA and the DNA of the XJ8, you would find a perfect match. So, you may ask, how do you take the finest large luxury sedan on the planet and make it better? By adding in a little more rear seat leg room, that's how. And, voila, you have XJ8L.

Yet the folks at Jaguar didn't stop there. The New XJ8L not only provides greater room for rear-seat passengers, but also offers a choice of seating configurations, new trim and options.

Nor is there much of a weight penalty. The XJ8L weighs just 53 pounds more than the standard wheelbase model offers comparable fuel economy and performance. Indeed, the XJ8 in either form remains by far the lightest car in its class. The company boasts that the XJ8L is "as impressive from the driver's seat as it is from the rear passenger seat" and I'm not going to argue with them.

Like the standard wheelbase XJ8, the XJ8L shares all the advantages of advanced aluminium construction, including light weight, and significantly improved body strength. The wheelbase and overall length of the new car have increased by 5 inches and the rear roofline has been raised by 0.28 inches. All the additional body length is behind the B-pillars, the longer rear doors aiding passenger entry and exit.

There is now a choice of four optional rear-seating configurations, including fixed or power-adjustable bench layouts, and individual powered and heated rear seats separated by a centre console with additional storage space. The burr walnut-finished trays that fold down from the front seat-backs are big enough to hold a notebook computer. Small television screens can also be incorporated in the head rests of the front seats in order to offer a variety multi-media options for the amusement of rear seat passengers. These include iPod, MP3 player and DVD connectivity. Communication possibilities include a telephone conference call facility for front and rear passengers, while rear-seat passengers can specify voice-activation for the four-zone climate-control system, with individual seat-to-seat settings. Welcome to the 21st Century.

Our test car was equipped with the standard 4.2-liter V8, which produces all the power and performance you could reasonably want in a car this size, yet the fuel economy is surprisingly good: 18 mpg city, 28 mpg highway.

The XJ LWB includes a full list of active and passive safety features. Jaguar's Adaptive Restraint Technology System (A.R.T.S.) combines dual-stage driver and passenger airbags with seat-occupation sensing, side-impact chest airbags in the front seat bolsters; front and rear side air curtains; anti-whiplash seat design; and ISOFIX rear child seat attachments. The XJ8L also has four-channel anti-lock brakes (ABS) with Emergency Brake Assist (EBA), traction control and Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) as standard. High levels of security are also incorporated, with transponder-operated remote double deadlocking and automatic drive-away locking.

The United States is expected to be the largest market for the XJ8L, accounting for as much as 80 percent of projected sales. The base price is $62,830 (plus $665 in destination charges). Our test car had the navigation system ($2,300) and special paint ($1,000), making for a total including destination charges of $66,795. Not very much really when you consider what some of the German competition is charging. And none of them has Jaguar DNA. Priceless. R&D