Jaguar X - Type (2001 - To Date)

Models Covered: (4 dr saloon/Estate 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, V6 petrol 2.

0, 2.2 diesel [base, Classic, S, Sport, SE, Sport Premium, Sovereign])

BY ANDY ENRIGHT

The Jaguar X-TYPE marked a series of firsts for Jaguar. It was their first all-wheel drive production car and subsequently their first front wheel drive. It was the first to challenge the hegemony built up by the BMW 3 Series and the first to be built around a mainstream Ford Mondeo platform. Old school Jaguar purists wrung their hands in abject horror whilst the rest of us recognised the machinations of Fords Premier Auto Group at work behind the scenes and recognised the X-TYPE for what it was pragmatism and clever engineering writ large beneath some pretty clothes.

Build
Comfort
Depreciation
Economy
Equipment
Handling
Insurance
Performance
Styling
Value

Shooting yourself in the foot with a used example would take some doing as the X-TYPE has thus far proved to be a sound proposition.

For some customers, the X-TYPEs success will be virtually guaranteed by its neat styling. The lines are reminiscent of the S-TYPE, though Jaguars design studio has managed to pull off a clever trick. In shrinking a design, the usual effect is to make a car look squatter and stubbier, but with the X-TYPE the reverse is true. It appears even more elegantly proportioned than the S-TYPE: indeed, its frontal treatment is more like the imperious XJ8 Series. Apart from the base model, two trim levels are on offer, a clubby SE model with burr walnut cappings and chrome body addenda and a more youthful Sport edition, with sports seats, smoke-grey interior veneers and big 18-inch wheels. The 2.0-litre X-TYPE is priced close to the plusher Ford Mondeos and that near parity hides a key consideration because the X-TYPE actually rides on a modified Mondeo chassis, with around 20% of its parts shared with Fords middleweight.

Anybody whos driven the current Mondeo will welcome this as a very good foundation to build from. "Customers for the X-TYPE typically will be younger than traditional Jaguar buyers with notably different needs," says Jaguars Managing Director. "As the smallest and most affordable model in the range, the X-TYPE challenges existing perceptions about Jaguar. The X-TYPE is also a car for the driving enthusiast." Indeed, the importance of the car to Jaguars global aspirations cannot be understated. Worldwide, the company has sold around 85,000 cars in the last calendar year, but Ford wont be happy with anything less than 170,000 sales per annum a doubling of world sales. With near perfect weight distribution, class-leading power outputs and the input of some of the best chassis engineers in the business, few industry observers doubt the X-TYPEs ability to meet and possibly exceed these projections. Compared to Jaguars of the past, even the most cursory inspection of the X-TYPE reveals levels of quality and engineering that the Coventry firm could never have dreamed about fifteen years ago.

Despite the backup from Ford, the X-TYPE is a largely British undertaking. The interior of the X-TYPE sets new standards of quality and, indeed, modernity for Jaguar, redressing many of the grumbles that were heard at the S-TYPE launch. The fascia retains the plank a long swathe of wood running the width of the dashboard but the major dials are housed in a modern binnacle rather than in individual recesses as in the XK8. Whats particularly impressive is the way that Jaguar have managed to blend traditional touches like wood veneers and chrome cappings with modern must-haves such as multi-function LCD screens, airbags and multi-speaker audio systems.

Thats a tall order, and the X-TYPE manages it better than most. The cabin certainly feels more special than any of its rivals, and has premium product design cues all over it.

Whereas once the values of used Jaguars fell quicker than Michael Owen in the opposition box, these days Jag residuals are reasonably perky. Great news if youre the one with your details on the V5, not such good news if youre sniffing about looking for a bargain. The X-TYPE starts at around £4,800 for an X-TYPE 2.5 with the Sport and SE versions worth an additional £400.

Should you hanker after the 3.0-litre, youll need to dredge up at least £5,300. The 2.0-litre models are a good intro for those on a tighter budget, starting at around £5,375 for 2001 51 plated examples.

The 2.0-litre diesels are available from £7,950 on 2003 plates. Insurance is pretty easy to work out. The 2.

0-litre models are Group 14, the 2.5s Group 15 and the 3.0s fall into Group 16.

If your last experience with a Jaguar was one of the unlovely XJ40 models from the eighties, then it may be time to reacquaint yourself with the brand. Some of the first cars were a little looser in terms of internal fit and finish than Jaguar would have cared to admit but the production experience curve soon saw to any minor niggles. In most respects theres no appreciable quality difference between an X-TYPE and a Mercedes C-Class. No significant mechanical issues have been raised, reflected by Jaguars enviable results in recent J D Power surveys.

(approx based on 2001 X-TYPE 3.0) Spares for the X-TYPE hover around the compact executive average although you wont have quite so many parallel imports of pattern parts if you want to cut corners. Given the fact that pub bores may denigrate it as a Mondeo, nipping down to your local Ford dealer to pick up spares is often likely to result in a wasted journey. Front brake pads are around £45, whilst rears are £30.

Expect to have to fork out around £175 for a new clutch assembly and around £485 for a new exhaust system. A replacement headlamp unit costs around £220.

If youre after the full-on X-TYPE experience you need that 3.0-litre. Fire it up and youll be greeted with a muted growl before it settles to a distant rumble. Youll initially feel that this is going to be a sporting drive, tilting at a 3-Series rather than a C class.

Indeed, although the suspension is admirably supple in its absorption of ridges and ruts, theres not a great deal of body roll, the X-TYPE feeling taut and eager. When coupled with the automatic box its easy to forget that 40% of the drive is directed to the front wheels. The steering takes a little getting used to. Gone is the usual Jaguar steering feel, that remote, oily slickness that distanced drivers from the road.

In its place is a ZF Servotronic variabe-ratio system which seamlessly reduces the amount of assistance as speed builds. Its a great system for motorway cruising, with just the right amount of feel around the straight ahead point, but get a bit enthusiastic into the corners and the tardy turn-in and odd feeling that you need to turn the wheel far more than is at first expected will take some getting used to. Likewise, the automatic gearbox, even when switched into sport mode, cant really keep up with the demands of being pitched through a series of twisty bits. Still, thats what Jaguar makes the X-TYPE Sport for.

The chubby windscreen pillars restrict visibility through tighter bends, but otherwise the Jaguar is a genuinely impressive packaging job. For a British car it adopts a groundbreaking competence in ergonomics, with all switches, minor controls and access points being intuitive to operate. Rear legroom isnt the best, especially if there are long-legged drivers up front, but thats par for the course in this class. What isnt is the enormous boot, 452 litres being a Jaguar record.

Get a bit brutal with the right hand pedal and, with a 3.0-litre underneath you, youll despatch 60mph in 6.9 seconds, the X-TYPE launching off the line without drama whilst making a strident high-pitched yelp as the gearbox hangs onto each gear, peak power arriving at a stratospheric 6800rpm. The 231bhp engine will punch the car up to 143mph, although this sort of driving wont get you near Jaguars combined fuel consumption figure of 27mpg.

Despite its stiff, no-nonsense chassis feel and tight suspension, the luxury accoutrements and unwilling steering and transmission of the SE version dont encourage press-on driving, all of which make the Sport variant a far more satisfying model. The 2.5-litre is less satisfying for the keen driver, with the 2.0-litre being surprisingly zippy, able to hit 60mph in 8.

9 seconds and keep going until 130mph.

Buyers of used Jaguars have traditionally needed some sort of homespun, emotional response when questioned about their purchase. The heritage, the looks, the badge all reasons as valid as any other but reasons which the X-TYPE keeps in its toolbox rather than acting as the tools of its trade. This is a car that has layers, textures and subtleties to its talents, a Jaguar that needs no preamble. Its up there with the best in the class.

Just dont expect a bargain.