First class travel at economy rate

Jaguar has dropped some of its elite credentials with a newly upgraded and affordable X-Type. This entry model in the iconic British carmaker"s range now comes with affordable and powerful diesel engines. Michael Moroney took the Jag out on a test to assess its value and performance There"s no mistaking a Jag. The image is clear and these British-built cars never get mistaken for anything else. Once the preserve of the elite, now Jaguars are becoming more affordable to a wider audience. And, horror of horrors, Jaguar is even introducing diesel power, a significant change for this bastion of British petrol-engined motoring. The reason is economy and affordability. Jaguar, under the wing of Ford, has benefited from Ford"s engineering and marketing experience. The new models are a testament to that. And now, just when the work is done, Ford has sold the Jaguar brand to the Indian Tata Group along with the Land Rover range. For a recent test drive, I was able to enjoy the new 2.2 litre turbo-diesel model complete with its matched automatic gearbox. This new model is claimed to have 500 new components to improve comfort, reliability, performance and, of course, economy. The improved engine delivers an average 152bhp while scoring well in the area of torque to give impressive acceleration. The 0 to 100km/h rating is 8.9 seconds - that"s about the best performance in this 2.2 litre diesel-powered category. This same engine is fitted to the top-of-the-range Ford Mondeo, which shares a lot of underskin features with the X-type. In the Mondeo it delivers more power, more torque and a shade better acceleration. But the Mondeo doesn"t look like a Jag, it doesn"t feel like a Jag and you don"t get that special feeling when you arrive in a Jag, for what that"s worth! The six-speed automatic gearbox, with the use of a sequential shift, is a neat feature of the X-Type. It combines well with diesel power; the low end torque gives smooth gear changes. I rarely used the sequential system; the standard drive delivered enough in terms of performance from the engine. It"s a case of smoothness over sport and I opted for the former. This engine and automatic gearbox combination gives reasonable economy at six litres/100km (47mpg) though that"s not enough to keep it in the Band C road tax rating as it struggles to achieve a CO2 figure of 159g/km. That"s probably the expected CO2 rating for a 2.2 litre diesel car and there is no appreciable fuel saving in the automatic gearbox choice. For Jaguar experts, there are also some subtle exterior design changes. There is a new front grille design and new front and rear bumper designs to give the car a lower look. The radio aerial is now replaced by a fin-type pod. The new generation X-Type comes with two new five-spoke alloy wheel styles to compete the new design effect. On the inside, the luxury feel is retained with three new seat styles on offer, each matching the door trim. The entry option offers 10-way driver and passenger seat adjustment with driver"s seat memory function, all leather seat facings with twin needle horizontal stitch to accentuate that luxury feel. In the dash area, the instrument cluster has silver metallic overlays with a combination of green dial illumination and white pointer illumination, just as in the more expensive XK models. I found the Bluetooth system easy and effortless to use. Within minutes of getting into the car, I was live and geared for safer driving. The Jaguar X-Type has left a good impression on me. The performance is Mondeo-like because that"s where its engineering design origins lay. Its value is reasonable at €37,530, plus delivery charges, for the 2.2 litre model, while a slightly less powerful 2.0 litre diesel-powered version is on the market for €34,300. The Jaguar badge still remains one of the elite ones. The X-Type"s performance is solid and getting more economical, so while the image is retained, the value is getting better.