To criticise a Jaguar for lack of interior space is ludicrous! Who would use a Jaguar for carrying loads of luggage or passengers? The whole point of a Jaguar is extravagance and luxury - an enormous vehicle with a lavish interior to spoil and pamper oneself. If a Jaguar owner wants to carry lots of passengers he'll hire a minibus for them or for luggage he'll send Jeeves along the day before in the Range Rover! (And because of the relatively modest price of a Jag these days, one can still afford to pay Jeeves).

Performance is adequate for my everyday mix of motorways and city driving. Motorways are most fun thanks to the super-smooth ride, cruise control and effortless overtaking. City driving is very relaxed as one feels very safe and comfortable cocooned in quiet, air conditioned luxury and the smooth auto gearbox makes the rush hour stop-starting effortless. The outside world and all my problems are locked out, as I listen to something relaxing from Enigma on Jaguar's excellent built-in sound system. The integrated phone system is brilliant and fully controlled from the steering wheel so your mind can concentrate fully on driving and what's happening around you, rather than fumbling around with the phone.

Regarding fuel consumption - well, there's a simple answer - if you have to ask what it does to the gallon, you can't afford to run one. According to my on-board computer, it varies from 3 mpg accelerating up a steep hill to 21 mpg at a steady 75 mph on the motorway. My computer somehow displays an overall figure of 19 mpg, which I find very reasonable. If you don't like it, you can always buy something boring and soulless. (Mercedes do an S Class diesel nowadays, you know).

The only cars I've ever experienced which were a little more luxurious were from Aston Martin and Bentley, but then they cost two to three times as much so they are an unfair comparison really. For the money there's no better car available as far as I am concerned. I'd rather have three Jags than one Aston! Regarding safety, which is actually at the top of my list of priorities when car-buying, I find the Jaguar as sure-footed as the proverbial mountain goat and (touch wood) I have never crashed in any Jaguar. The brakes are great and roadholding is amazing with the sports suspension and enormous wheels and tyres. Thanks to the traction control, wheelspin is not a problem (my old 1980 Daimler Sovereign 4.2 used to spin the wheels when overtaking at motorway speeds, when using the kick-down). I would love to see the results of a Euro NCAP test, just out of interest. I imagine it would be very good as amongst other things, the car even has airbags for the back seat passengers (not that I often carry any back seat passengers). Servicing costs are fairly average and insurance is very reasonable for this class of vehicle.

The only downside I've found to owning the new XJ8 is that if I'm looking for a parking space in town, I need to find a big space and when starting on a cold day, she growls a lot and prefers a few minutes to warm up before leaving. These are a small price to pay for all the plus points and I will certainly buy more Jaguars in the future. I think I'll try an XKR for myself and my wife wants to change her Mercedes for an X-Type next year.