2006 Jaguar X-type Review

Sharply Dressed Hauler

It may be the smallest cat in the family, but the X-Type just might be the most controversial Jag to emerge from the company in, well, just about ever. Aside from rumors of a sport utility vehicle or people-carrying crossover, both of which have yet to emerge, never has one car caused such a stir amongst traditionalists. The rationale behind the baby Jag was filled with the best of intentions; this was the car that was supposed to ignite change deep from within, the car to bring traditional British luxury and sophistication within reach of every day people, and most importantly the model that was to put Jaguar back in the black. Downsizing automobiles worked for BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz, so, why not for Jaguar?

First things first, BMW and Audi, at least, never downsized. Actually, their cars grew over the years from tiny sport sedans to full-size luxury cruisers. Jaguar, on the other hand, has never produced anything smaller than midsize. But is the X-Types size really the problem? I dont think so. The confounding issue that arose between enthusiasts and the X-Type had more to do with the genetics of the machine. In order to successfully put a compact car on the road with only a relatively small budget, Jaguar turned to parent company Ford and borrowed the platform from the mainstream Mondeo family car. Of course, the decision was met with great public resistance, something along the lines of Ferrari borrowing a chassis from Fiat for its next grand-touring sports car, nevermind the fact that the Mondeo in its own right was an excellent driving machine, and that all-wheel drive would be available (and in many markets, standard). And in order to make that small premium car succeed in that marketplace it needed further tailoring, a diesel engine, a station wagon, and a volume seller, with a smaller engine, and front-wheel drive in place of the standard all-wheel drive. Queue the blaspheming. Sort of.

The impact made by the X-Type when it was launched in North America was far less violent than that in the United Kingdom, or continental Europe. Here, Mondeo lacks meaning, as its not sold in North America (although, we did have its predecessor, the Contour), and we didnt get any X-Types driven solely by the front wheels, powered by the de-stroked and de-bored 2.1-liter V6, or the diesel. What buyers saw was the X-Type in the ideal, pure form. But we did get the wagon, a little later on in its life cycle. More specifically, after Europe the X-Type Sportwagon was launched first in Canada and then in here in the USA, but, in North American markets only with a powerful V6 engine, J-gate automatic gearbox, and all-wheel drive. Instead of going for the bottom-rung Jag went top spec, showing the British way of competing with the best that Audi, BMW or Mercedes-Benz had to offer.

On a slightly happier note, I will get the ball rolling with one simple, but interesting fact: despite the fixations of the Jaguar name on styling and comfort, the Jaguar X-Type Wagon has a very large cargo bay, one thats bigger than most in its class. Strictly speaking, it resides in the compact executive station wagon segment, which means Volvo V70s, Benz E-Classes or 5-Series Tourings are all larger, while Audi A4 Avants and Volvo V50s, its direct competitors are smaller. When it was launched, the Jag had the biggest cargo hold in its class, although, in truth, today its beaten by the likes of the Saab 9-3 SportCombi, BMW 3-Series Touring and Volkswagens Passat Wagon (the Passat more of a midsize entry). Numerically, thats 15 cubic feet of volume which is accessible even when five people are on board, but the really impressive part is what becomes available when you fold the seats down, as that figure increases by a little more than 35.3 cu-ft to 50 cu-ft. It appears that all along, Jaguar had a load-lugging chromosome. It was just recessive.

The biggest challenge that Jaguar faced in creating a station wagon was determining how it would look; unlike other car companies, this was Jaguars first wagon, so there wasnt anything in the textbooks to base it off of. The X-Type Sedan, designed by the late Geoff Lawson looked very much like a traditional Jaguar from most angles; it had the elegant but pert Jaguar nose, curved roofline, but the tail never really worked in that car. To have an adequate sized trunk and to remain within the segments size, the Jaguar squatting tail wouldnt satisfy, so it got a tall, frumpy bottom instead. The job of transforming the car belonged to Ian Callum, the man who put the finishing touches on the XJ sedan, and the brand new XK coupe. Between the sedan and the wagon, I actually prefer the look of the wagon because it looks natural, and not at all imposed on the vehicle. Kudos go to its cleaner, less fussy styling treatment around the waistline, doing without the curvy character lines engraved in its rear fenders.

There are more or less two ways of making a wagon; theres the cheap, quick way, which involves tacking the wagon bits to the end of a sedan, much like what you would get with a Subaru Impreza Sport Wagon, and then theres the much more expensive, but visually complete way of redesigning the vehicle from the B-Pillar backwards. As you can guess, Callum went for the latter, dismissing the former option as looking like a rucksack. Hes right, of course, as the X-Type just wouldnt be a Jaguar if it had a ninety-degree sharp-angle cap that extended downward from its roof; theres nothing gorgeous about that. To make the gain in volume even more useable, the rear window opens independently from the rest of the tailgate as in a larger sport utility vehicle, which is useful for dropping shopping bags in, without having to clamber about with the whole tailgate. The only oversight about the design is that the round, bulging tail lights protrude into the trunk space.

Although the roof is shaped somewhat “faster” than in your run of the mill station wagon, the X-Type wagon actually has much more rear headroom, which is a definite improvement over the even more rakish sedan. Legroom, on the other hand, is a different story; if youre more than a young child, chances are your knees will always be pressing up against the seatbacks of those in front. As bad as this may seem for a premium compact car, it isnt alone in this company, having more rear legroom than the A4 Avant, and roughly on target with the 3-Series; compact-sized luxury vehicles, particularly those with rear- or all-wheel drive are all like this, showing their compact dimensions in the rear half of the car. Evidently, a lack of rear legroom doesnt bear much consequence in the big equation, as only four in ten customers have children. Spaciousness up front is generally quite good, though some drivers may find the center console excessively wide.

So, that settles it; we know that the X-Type works visually as a wagon, but how does it fare dynamically? All wagons are bigger and heavier than their sedan counterparts due to the fact that they haul around more glass and metal, which reeks havoc on the specifics of the rear suspension. The Jag wagon weighs some 132 lbs more than its four-door counterpart, but despite this extra poundage youd be hard pressed to tell any difference from the sedan, which itself is a superfluous drive. The reason for this is the engineers have reworked the spring and damper settings to balance out the additional weight, while the stability control program and ABS have been recalibrated in order to compensate for any differences. The differences are subtle; the car feels identical to the sedan when hustled, yet it seems more tied down and less fidgety over rougher stretches of road, even when there isnt anything in the back.

For being the comfort-oriented luxury model, the X-Type wagon is a fairly engaging drive. The steering, for example, is stiffer than rivals, not to mention the fact that the ZF variable speed steering rack delivers top-notch steering feel. Grip is well beyond my original expectations thanks to a 40:60 rear biased all-wheel drive system that uses a viscous coupling setup for power distribution, enabling the car to track straight through slush or standing water, something that cant be said about many front or rear-wheel drive alternatives. The only area of the chassis that could do with a bit of tweaking is the suspension. While in the corners its reasonably flat and the ride is firm, the Wagon is surprisingly susceptible to pitch and dive, which becomes especially pronounced under heavy acceleration or braking. Its at odds with the bassy, sporty growl and the accompanied shove from the 3.0-liter V6.

Speaking of that V6, its nigh short a work of wonder what Jaguar was able to do with some rather rudimentary starting materials. Like smelting iron ore into the finest grade of stainless steel, Jaguars gone and overhauled Fords Duratec 30 engine, which dates well back to the days of the first generation Taurus. Of course, its been to polishing school, where it picked up some hefty technology, including continuously variable valve timing, three-stage variable induction manifolds and, four valves per cylinder. Alright, so this isnt state of the art, but remember, this engine is now four years old, and its still an improvement over the most modern rendition of the Duratec 30, which only makes 221 hp. So effective and so tractable is this motor that its currently serving duty in the S-Type 3.0 and the European-market XJ6, albeit in an even higher state of tune.

Perhaps Jaguar should consider fitting the 240 horse version of the V6 engine to the X-Type. At launch, 221 horsepower was on target with the likes of Audi, BMW and Benz. Since then the game has moved on, with top of the line variants of the competition sitting at the 280 horsepower mark. Nevertheless, the X-Type soothes ideas of the power struggle away with smoothness and an excellently paired automatic gearbox. The five-speed automatic, a Ford-sourced device has ratios that match the low-down torque delivery of the engine, which turns out 85-percent of peak twist at 1,500 rpm, and 90-percent from 2,500 rpm. Theres a hint of driveline shunt when making sudden transitions from stop to go as in heavy traffic, but this simple, rear-biased all-wheel drive system is not vastly different from any other on the market.

When you climb inside the X-Type, the immediate message that the Jag conveys is one of lavishness and of the extraordinary, which is further amplified by the fact that its all enclosed in a vehicle so small. While your typical German offering has an air of solidity to it, most fail to fire the same luxury synapses anywhere near the way a traditionally wood and leather-appointed Jaguar does. Like the exterior, the look of the dashboard and console is traditional Jaguar, with a plinth of Bronze Sapelle wood that stretches from side to side, plus large, classic instruments and a massively wide center console. Its effortlessly classy, which is a crucial component in any Jaguar. And while the look may not be modern, the features and technology certainly are: the options list for the X-Type includes an impressively clear 320-watt 10-speaker Alpine system with digital sound processing, Bluetooth cellphone interactivity with voice-activated control, and a DVD navigation system with touchscreen display.

But, there are a couple of minor issues that I have with the X-Type Wagon that detract from the overall experience. For one, the glossy wood on the dashboard is inconsistent with the solid block on the shift knob, and there are a couple of cheap-feeling plastics; in particular the headlamp control bezel and the black face plate of the center console. Theres also the odd screech-like noise that the digital HVAC controls make whenever you depress a button, the electric seat whirs loudly and grumbles when you actuate it, and the power door locks make a deafeningly loud ker-klunk when operated. Theres also that wipe-down, waterproof sub-floor, which is not unusual in a wagon, except, in this one, it appears to be made of dense polystyrene. Thats not very Jaguar-like. I found the heated electric windshield, with its microfilaments to be annoying at night as well; while its impressive that the Jaguar was able to make wires as thin as this, they cause excessive dazzling at night. Annoyingly, this feature is standard on all X-Type Sportwagons.

Since its launch, Jaguar has progressively whittled away the X-Type range down to just three models. Back in 2002, you used to be able to walk into your local Jaguar dealership and order an entry-level X-Type powered by a smaller displacement 2.5-liter engine. You could also order an X-Type 3.0 Sport with a manual gearbox, or a wagon with the sport kit (but no manual). Today, none of these combinations can be ordered as the range is limited to the 3.0 sedan ($32,995), the Sport sedan ($36,295), the VDP Edition sedan ($35,945), or this, the Sportwagon ($36,995).

There was a time when it was believed that the X-Type would be the car to turn Jaguar into Britains BMW. Bean counters expected Browns Lane to be churning out some 200,000 of the baby Jags a year. While the X-Type is a good car, the rest of the world wasnt quite ready for Jaguar condensed to this degree; production has been paused several times due to slow sales. Very shortly, the X-Type will become history. Whether or not it will be viewed as a tarnishing spot on the brands legacy (nowhere near as bruising as Cadillacs Cavalier-based Cimarron, mind you) is yet to be seen, but one things for sure, the risk did not pay off and no successor has yet been planned. Instead, Jaguar will be focusing on trimming its costs and shaping up its profits on new versions of current models, plus introducing new cars that better suit the fast-cat image. In a way, I kind of think thats how it should have been all along.

But this isnt to say that the X-Type Wagon is a bad car, no, its impossibly far from it. The market for well-mannered, well-built station wagons is small, but important. And while there are the standard makes and models that can happily cater to premium wagon wishes, the main hook is that theyre mostly alike. Theyre either flaming surfaces, minimalist clean or stainless-steel cool, which makes them fashionable for the moment, but equal substitutes for one another. Because of this, the Jaguar stands out; it represents British elegance plus impressive space in a package thats different from an SUV, and thats just fine by me.