12 Rounds with…2010 BMW 760Li vs. 2011 Jaguar XJL Supercharged
Round 6: Acceleration
With an all-new 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12 making 535 hp and 550 lb-ft. of torque stuffed under its long hood, the 760Li should make short work of the Jag, which is motivated by a 5.0-liter supercharged V8 capable of 470 hp and 424 lb-ft. of torque. Manufacturer performance figures bear this out too, with the Bimmer blazing to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds and the XJL Supercharged claiming 4.9 ticks. Clearly, both are ridiculously fast for their size, but the Jag simply feels faster in the straights. Some of it comes down to weight and handling (see Round 7); the other factor is the transmission. The BMW's massive muscle is routed to the rear wheels via an all-new ZF eight-speed automatic - two more gears than the previous generation. While this allows for shorter gear ratios, the tranny sometimes feels like it gets lost in the midst of all that cog-swapping. Conversely, the Jaguar's six-speed always seems perfectly timed for linear, lag-free acceleration.
Scorecard: This one's also close, but the big cat is the real runner.
.jpg)
