Jaguar XF 3.0 AWD And XJ 3.0 AWD

Slower and more sure-footed

For decades, car buyers who live where the roads are slippery for much of the year have adored all-wheel-drive large sedans from Audi and Mercedes-Benz. Every other non-exotic luxury automaker added all-wheel drive, one by one, until there was but a single two-wheel-drive stalwart remaining: Jaguar, whose only previous all-wheel-drive foray was the small, ignominious 2002-2008 X-type.

Jaguar XF 3.0 AWD

It’s also been several years since Jaguar offered Americans a car with fewer than eight cylinders, even though the other brands sell luxury sedans with more economical four-, five-, and/or six-cylinder engines. For 2013, Jaguar has filled that void in its lineup with the addition of V-6-powered XF and XJ models that are available with all-wheel drive.

The new 3.0-liter supercharged V-6 is the linchpin to the AWD system. The front axles pass through a hollowed-out section of the engine’s oil pan, a transfer case bolts to the tail of the (also-new) eight-speed ZF automatic transmission, and a prop shaft turns alongside the transmission case and delivers power to the front differential and axles. Because the XF and the XJ share powertrains, modifications to both cars are pretty much identical. No other engines - including the XF’s new-for-2013 turbo four-cylinder - currently can accommodate the AWD components, but Jaguar says that all powertrains and cars developed in the future will be compatible with all-wheel drive.

Jaguar XJ 3.0 AWD

They’re not as entertainingly tail-happy as other AWD luxury cars we’ve driven in similar wintry conditions, but the Jaguars are anxious to claw past any obstacle that doesn’t overmatch their ground clearance. On clean, paved surfaces, the AWD cars felt as sporty and composed as their excellent rear-wheel- drive counterparts.

The V-6 cars - no matter how many wheels are driven - accelerate to 60 mph only fractions of a second slower than non-supercharged V-8 siblings. Similarly, fuel economy isn’t much different from the V-8’s, and AWD reduces mileage a bit, too.

All-wheel drive is newly available in Jaguar’s sedans - the XF (above) and the XJ (below) - but only with the equally new supercharged V-6.

Jaguar officials expect that a substantial 40 percent of XFs and XJs purchased in the U.S. will soon be all ­wheel drive. Imagine the number of folks who’d have considered Jags this whole time if the company hadn’t waited this long to offer the products that so many customers want.