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Auto: Jaguar X-Type 3.0 BENZINA @2005-12
The Jaguar X-Type is elegant, comfortable, and fun to drive. It represents a low cost of entry for a Jaguar and a strong value in this highly competitive class.
It also gives its owner the distinction of driving a Jag. Yet this entry-level Jag offers something no other Jaguar has: the benefits of full-time all-wheel drive. That makes the X-Type a good choice for rain, snow and ice, and indeed it feels very secure in those conditions.
The X-Type competes with the BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Audi A4 and other near-luxury cars. The performance of the Jaguar compares favorably to these cars, while offering a distinct difference in feel and temperament. The Jaguar X-Type is a good alternative to these superb luxury sedans and its quality has improved considerably since it was first introduced, thanks to continuous improvements made by Ford at the factory in the U.K. As with the other cars in its class, the X-Type is smaller in size, making it easier to park and maneuver.
The X-Type looks unmistakably like a Jaguar, and that's no small design feat given its relatively compact dimensions. Better still, the X-Type smells and feels like a Jaguar, with all the traditional British ingredients that have defined the brand for seven decades.
The X-Type is a real Jag on the inside, too. Jaguar's leather and wood are done as well as they were in the days when those luxury touches were not added to every model on the road. The standard seats are quite good, supportive and comfortable, and they can be adjusted every which way.
When it was introduced, the Jaguar X-Type set new standards for rigidity of structure. A rigid structure translates into a car that can be tuned to ride smoothly and quietly while cornering like a cat. Our first experience with the X-Type bore this out and was confirmed in the 2005 X-Type Sportwagon.
We've driven the X-Type down winding rural roads near Dijon, France, over mountain roads in north Georgia, and around the high-speed banked oval of Atlanta Motor Speedway. The X-Type was the epitome of stability and confidence in the high-speed sections. Yet it rode smoothly on the streets of Atlanta.
The X-Type models offer responsive performance. Engine torque is spread over a power curve in the desirable mesa shape.
The 3.0-liter V6 engine doesn't have the hard edge of BMW's inline-6, but the Jaguar's power is there early at launch and accessible over a wide range of speeds. It growls appropriately when provoked because Jaguar engineers have fine tuned the exhaust note to sound right.
Jaguar's X-Type stacks up nicely by virtually any measure, from design to style to space to performance. If it gives up a tick to class leaders in specific areas, it compensates with the elegance only Jaguar can deliver. When you consider all-wheel drive comes standard on all X-Type models, pricing makes them a compelling alternative to the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes C-Class.
New Car Test Drive correspondent John Rettie filed this report from Palm Springs, California, with Denise McCluggage in Dijon, France, and Mitch McCullough in Atlanta.
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