Driving is easy and direct input and immediate reaction makes even a short trip enjoyable. This car does not isolate you from the road, but also does not beat you up even over the poorest maintained roads. The 3.0-liter with a 227-horsepower has lots of standard equipment such as wood trim, Connolly leather-trimmed seating, power windows, mirrors, locks, a tilt-and-slide moonroof, a split folding rear seat, automatic headlamps and a wood-and-leather steering wheel. The five-speed automatic is standard and much improved over previous models.
Inside, the seats were comfortable, although I would have liked a longer bottom cushion and the front visibility was excellent. Looking over the leaper hood ornament is reassuring if not ego building. The number of storage areas is sufficient, but the room is limited. The cupholders are not really adequate for large drinks. We had the optional navigation system but found it difficult to conquer in the brief time we had with the car. The screen was easy to see though. He steering wheel is a fine size, and it has a rotary thumb wheel control for the cruise control and stereo settings.
Safety features include curtain-style head protection airbags for front and rear passenger, dual-stage frontal airbags and front side-impact airbags managed by a sophisticated sensor system. Anti-lock brakes, pre-tensioning front safety belts with load-limiters, and good visibility. This year they have added an inflatable knee bolster airbag. And, there is a seat position sensor to avoid costly air bag deployment when the seat is not occupied. Everything you would expect from a luxury car at this price. I like the fact that even on the base model you get all the safety features.
Okay, would I like this car? Yes. Would I like it better than the roomier, but more expensive S Type? No. The reason is simple enough; I like the larger engine available on the S Type and the additional room. Of course, we are talking thousands of dollars more, but hey, that's why I work.
Dad's view: This is a better handling X Type than earlier models. It has a superior handling, and a better transmission operation than the previous model we tested. The ride is stern, but not offensive, and corners are not to be feared. Jaguar's Traction 4 all-wheel-drive system uses a center differential and viscous coupling that divides the torque so that 40 percent goes to the front wheels and 60 percent to the rear when the car's computers sense a problem. In addition, the Dynamic Stability Control system helps control a skid and enables the driver to maintain control in an emergency.
Although we do not test cars at high speeds the 3.0-liter V6 engine is more than capable of keeping up with fast traffic and is designed for touring. Rapid acceleration takes a moment as the five-speed electronically controlled automatic transmission decides just how serious you are about moving. You can select a sport mode, or use Jaguar's gate shifter to shift semi-manually. As usual, we find the J-gate a bit awkward to use, but this car is more suited to just leaving it in drive anyway.