Times are tough in the auto business. Companies everywhere are looking for ways to gain market share. Some European luxury-car makers-BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, even Porsche-have gone so far as to offer a very un-European vehicle, the SUV. But for Jaguar, a sport-ute just wasn’t an option-it simply wouldn’t be proper. So the Ford-owned British marque decided to try another approach: Go down-market and produce a less expensive vehicle.
It was thought that sales volumes in the U.S. market might double if the company could come up with a sedan in the $30,000-to-$40,000 range, a hot segment where Audi, BMW, and Lexus sell a lot of cars. But building a new car from scratch is hugely expensive, so Jaguar turned to its parent for a platform to start with, and the Ford Mondeo (formerly Contour) was chosen. Trouble is, the Mondeo uses a front-wheel-drive layout, whereas Jaguars have always routed power aft. Hence, a four-wheel-drive system was adopted, with a mechanical center differential that sends 60 percent of the power to the rear wheels until things get slippery and then a viscous limited-slip device diverts power to the axle with the surest grip.
Jaguar sold 33,018 X-types in 2002, which turned out to be more than half of Jaguar’s 61,204 total sales that year in this country. Sales in 2003 haven’t been as strong, but it looks as though the X-type will still account for more than 50 percent of Jag’s volume here.
Sales might be strong, and our early driving impressions of the X-type were positive, but the car didn’t fare too well in its first C/D comparison test (“36 on the Floor,” February 2002), where it finished fifth in a field of seven. We couldn’t decide what to make of the new cat, but it boiled down to this: Its level of luxury didn’t make up for its lack of sportiness. Maybe more time with the car was called for.
So in February 2002, an X-type appeared at our door. It came with a 3.0-liter V-6, five-speed stick, gorgeous British Racing Green exterior, and Sand interior. The base price of $36,595 zoomed north with options: a $2000 Sport package (17-inch wheels and tires, sport tuning, stability control, trunk-mounted spoiler, and leather sport seats), a $2500 Premium package (glass sunroof, split-folding rear seats, and other luxo-goodies), a $2200 nav system, a $1200 Alpine premium sound system, and a $600 Weather package (heated front seats and headlamp power washers). The final tab was a whopping $45,095. That’s about $6000 more than a similarly equipped Audi A4 3.0 Quattro.
The X-type has good prowess as a highway cruiser. It has plenty of power for passing, a smooth ride, and stable handling. The four-wheel-drive system enhances the X-type’s steering feel, and adding a set of snow tires (see Baubles and Bolt-Ons) makes it damn near blizzard-proof in the winter.
But soon there were niggling complaints, reminding us of a time not that long ago when Jaguars seemed always to be riddled with little aggravating problems. With less than 1000 miles on the odo, the driver’s seat came slightly loose at the bolt-on points, rocking back and forth in maybe a half-inch arc as the car stopped and accelerated. Talk about annoying. Everyone complained about the abrupt clutch engagement and the rubbery feel of the gearshift. Driving the car smoothly became real work. Another annoyance was the LCD touch-screen display that controls the climate, radio, and navigation functions. The screen was positioned so low on the dash that most drivers had to take their eyes off the road for an unnervingly long time to make an adjustment.
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