Motors North

Make

ANY AC AIXAM ALFA ROMEO ASIA ASTON MARTIN AUBURN AUDI AUSTIN BENTLEY BMW BRISTOL BUGATTI CADILLAC CATERHAM CHEVROLET CHRYSLER CITROEN COLEMAN MILNE DAEWOO DAIHATSU DAIMLER DATSUN DAX DE TOMASO DODGE FERRARI FIAT FORD FSO GINETTA GMC HILLMAN HOLDEN HONDA HUMMER HYUNDAI INFINITI ISUZU JAGUAR JEEP JENSEN KIA KOENIGSEGG LADA LAMBORGHINI LANCIA LAND ROVER LEXUS LIGIER LINCOLN LOTUS MARCOS MASERATI MAYBACH MAZDA MCLAREN MERCEDES-BENZ MERCURY MG MICROCAR MINI MITSUBISHI MITSUOKA MORGAN MORRIS NISSAN NOBLE OPEL PAGANI PANTHER PERODUA PEUGEOT PILGRIM PLYMOUTH PONTIAC PORSCHE PROTON RELIANT RENAULT RILEY ROLLS-ROYCE ROVER SAAB SEAT SINGER SKODA SMART SSANGYONG SUBARU SUNBEAM SUZUKI TALBOT TATA TOYOTA TRIUMPH TVR ULTIMA VAUXHALL VOLKSWAGEN VOLVO WESTFIELD WOLSELEY YUGO

Model

ANY

Area

ANY Badenoch and Strathspey Caithness Inverness Inverness Area and Loch Ness Lochaber Moray Nairn and District Ross and Cromarty Sutherland Other

Price From

0 500 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 80000 90000 100000

Price To

500 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 80000 90000 100000

Your Local Newspaper

Inverness Courier Highland News
North Star Lochaber News Northern Scot
Ross-shire Journal Caithness Courier
John O Groat Journal Northern Times
Forres Gazette Banffshire Journal
Strathspey and Badenoch Herald

Copyright SPP Group

our test drives or view them all

Jaguar X-Type 2.2D Sport Premium saloon

A FRIEND who runs a Jaguar X-Type business car that carries a lot of weight regularly complains to me that the two-litre diesel fitted to his car lacks punch and refinement.

I know what he means. The two-litre was frugal enough and good for company tax with 149g/km of CO2, but it was hardly a road-burner and lacked an automatic option.

Not any more.

There’s no plan to stop production of the X-Type just yet, but as the cheapest Jaguar in the range based on the old model Mondeo heads towards the end of its production life, its makers have come to the aid of the 2.0D’s lacklustre performance with a lively new 2.2 turbodiesel with more power and torque.

More importantly, it gets an excellent new six-speed automatic transmission option.

I’ve never been much of a fan of the X-Type. It really was nothing more than an expensively-dressed Mondeo with the marginal attraction of 4x4 traction on petrol models.

Even then, I’ve never quite forgiven a petrol V6 4x4 version for letting me down spectacularly on a test track in France at its launch some years ago.

It deposited me “in the rough” after the transmission disintegrated at high speed on a corner during handling tests.

The plan had been to show us motoring writers just how good it was in extreme handling situations.

My gearbox failure was down to a faulty component, but it left me with a thick ear when my lug got nipped between my helmet and the B-pillar!

More embarrassing at the time was that I’d left my gearbox spread across the track behind me and at this stage was blaming myself – not a happy memory.

But matters have improved. Petrol X-Types are now in the minority and it’s the front-drive diesels that are snatching sales.

OK, so the estate version is a more attractive proposition and does look good but both saloon and estate are at a slight performance disadvantage with a front-drive two-litre turbodiesel engine. If the 2.0D has a saving grace, it is its average 49mpg.

But now there’s an alternative. A smoother 2.2D with 152bhp, a bit more torque and, crucially, available with a smooth-changing six-speed automatic that costs a reasonable £1,450 extra.

It’s still only available in front-wheel-drive but the new engine is almost as frugal as the 2.0D at 47mpg and produces only 37g/km more in CO2.

But what separates it from the smaller unit is its excellent new auto option and its uncanny silence in the cruise.

I tested the second most expensive saloon version with sequential automatic transmission – a £28,000 model with the £1,450 autobox option. Only the £29,000 Sovereign costs more.

But given the car’s age and current car market climate, you ought to be able to drive a far better bargain.

Things have improved for the X-Type. Recent upgrades have increased trim quality and turned what I was thought of as a brash wanabee into a competent and comfortable compact executive.

Equipment levels are good on all models and particularly on my Sport Premium. Full leather with an odd quilted finish is standard and comfortable, but I could do without the white leather finish that Jaguar’s press office had selected for its metallic black test car – a combination Jaguar sales staff refer to as the Guinness option!

Keeping this clean would be a nightmare, even with leather’s “wipe clean” reputation.

I was disappointed Jaguar had decided to send the Sport Premium saloon. It looks small, ordinary even, and I would rather have tested the top value entry level 2.2D at £22,500.

The boot is shallow and offers 452 litres of space, but I was in for a surprise. Family duties saw me having to deliver a full-size road racing bike to Nairn.

How, with a Jaguar saloon? With the family car miles away in my wife’s hands I thought I’d be stumped, but I was wrong.

Incredibly, with the rear seats folded flat and some careful loading, the X-Type swallowed the carbonfibre-framed bike easily and I didn’t even have to take the cycle’s front wheel off.

I was amazed. There’s clearly a lot more space there than I had thought.

The car drove well, handled predictably and even had a reasonably soft, but controlled, Jaguar ride – just like the XJ. The further I travelled, the more I thought I might have been too hard on earlier X-Types.

But there’s no getting away from its ageing design. I still prefer the estate, despite the four-door’s bike-swallowing trick, and even then when you place it against the competition it looks like yesterday’s car.

Space up front is good, but the rear seats are a let down and passenger room is nowhere near its rivals.

But in value terms it’s a star. It is well-equipped in standard guise, even though I was disappointed that Jaguar makes my test car’s diesel particulate filter an option.

DPFs really should be standard on all diesel cars to minimise exhaust emissions.

Elsewhere the standard Sport Premium spec is impressive. You get two-stage heated front seats, softgrain diamond pattern leather trim, electric front seats with memory, boot spoiler, an unusual electric heater, front and rear armrests, excellent heated front windscreen, cruise control, front and rear parking aid, sport suspension, 18-inch alloys, auto headlamps and wipers, headlamp power wash, air conditioning, trip computer, remote radio and CD controls on the steering wheel, and electronic stability programme.

Finally, there’s an interesting new look to the X-Type. The car looks cleaner and a bright finisher strip across the front below the grille helps the latest version to stand out from the crowd.

Even though I favour the estate over the saloon, it appears that most sales in the north are being snapped up by the four-door.

That’s a reversal in fortunes for the X-Type where just a few years ago it was the handsome estate that was most popular.

The X-Type is getting on – but with 2.2D power and that excellent new transmission it could stay in the Jaguar sales brochures for a few more years yet.

Rating: 6.5/10

FINAL THOUGHT:

The Jaguar X-Type is based on the old model Ford Mondeo, and feels it. But for all its faults, the latest version of this Mondeo in a sharp suit has grown into a fine driving car with a new 2.2-litre turbodiesel option linked to a very smooth automatic transmission. The car represents best value in its most basic guise, but the Premium Sport is exceptionally well appointed and a comfortable executive four-door. Ultimately it’s the estate that makes most sense – a very able combination when linked with the new 2.2 turbodiesel and Jaguar’s exceptionally smooth new six-speed automatic.

 

CAR FACTS – Jaguar X-Type 2.2D Sport Premium saloon

• Price: £28,000 (£29,450 with auto)
• Capacity: 2198cc
• Power: 152bhp
• 0-62mph: 9.9 seconds
  
• Maximum speed: 129mph
  
• Economy: Combined 47.1mpg
  
• CO2 emissions: 184g/km
  
• ESP: Standard
• Insurance: Group 15