First drive: The populist Jaguar
BY BRUCE NEWTON | 12th Mar 2002
It is the proud British marque's first front-wheel drive car, its smallest capacity car, cheapest car and without doubt it is going to be its biggest seller too.
Put aside the qualms about a Jaguar being pulled rather than pushed - and after some intensive debate Jaguar management managed to do it - and you are left with a car that takes on the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-class right at the compact prestige entry point, where the biggest sales are and long-term buying relationships formed.
It is an obvious extension of the X-Type family, which is expected to be grown further by a hot X-Type R in 2003 and an estate in 2004.
In Australia, three 2.1-litre variants will be offered from June - the V6 five-speed manual at $53,950, a five-speed auto version for an extra $2500 and the highly specified SE for $59,750.
There are no Sport variants for the moment, reflecting buying trends for the larger capacity 2.5 and 3.0-litre four-wheel drive X-types, where 95 per cent of buyers have plumped for the SE.
Why 2.1 - or 2099cc to be exact? Because this is a de-stroked AJ-V6 already used in the X and S-Type and Jaguar found the smaller the capacity the more bottom-end torque was reduced. With no tax incentive in Europe now to keep capacity under 2.0-litres, the decision was made to plump for the larger capacity, which produces 117kW at 6800rpm and 200Nm at 4100rpm.
That compares to the new Valvetronic BMW 318i and the Mercedes-Benz C200 K (both 2.0-litre engines despite the BMW's name) which produce 105kW/200Nm and 100kW/190Nm respectively.
Of course, the German cars are rear-wheel drives, whereas the Jaguar is front-wheel drive. Jaguar says it decided against staying with all-wheel drive or going rear-wheel drive for a combination of weight, expense and weight distribution reasons. The fact the X-Type uses a shortened version of the Ford Mondeo platform - also a front-driver - must have played a role as well.
That does not mean the driveshaft to the rear wheels was simply pulled out and the conversion left at that. There are new equal length half shafts, new-design CV joints at the outboard end of those half-shafts which Jaguar says is vital in eliminating torque steer, a modified steering rack, revised front suspension geometry and re-tuned suspension adapted to suit the car's lighter weight - down about 100kg, although still at least 1450kg.
Jaguar Australia has made a conscious decision not to make the 2.1 X a stripper. Leather and bird's eye maple interior remains standard as well as alloy wheels. Then there's front, side and curtain airbags, a powered driver's seat, single CD audio system, front foglights, anti-lock braking and traction control.
The SE adds cruise control, steering wheel audio controls, automatic climate control air-conditioning and a trip computer with a message centre.
Naturally, being a Jaguar there is a huge options list including touch-screen multimedia, voice activation, sat-nav, Xenon headlights and dynamic stability control. But some of the equipment you have to cough up extra for seems cheap to us - like a rear centre armrest, a first-aid kit and even floor mats.
Jaguar Australia managing director Danny Rezek predicts a total of 1000 X sales in 2002, with 400 of them 2.1s, despite it only being on sale for six months, with sales split evenly between the V6 and SE, and 80 per cent toward the auto.
DRIVE IMPRESSIONS
ASK Danny Rezek whether front-wheel drive will damage the prospects of the 2.1 X and he is blunt in reply: "I think, quite frankly, the public don't give a toss".If our experience driving the car on European roads is any guide, then he's right. For the most part they simply will not notice or realise the change.
That is because Jaguar has done quite an excellent job of shielding the steering system from torque steer, kickback and rack rattle, and that traditional front-wheel drive handling trait - understeer - only rears its head noticeably when provocation is severe.
For the most part, there is accurate steering with a modicum of feel and about the right level of resistance, grip and a commendably smooth ride - a much better compromise than the SE 2.5 and 3.0-litre X-types sampled during the international launch in Europe last year.
There is still some crash and jolt when big, sharp-edged bumps are encountered, but for the most part the car feels like it is revelling in its weight loss and those re-tuned springs, dampers, bushes and roll-bars.
There's another reason the car feels so capable too, and that is the engine. Despite its sophisticated all-alloy construction, 24-valves and variable intake manifold and cam phasing, and willingness to rev smoothly, quietly and enthusiastically, there is no way it is going to challenge the limitations of the chassis.
Within the traditional definition of Jaguar, this car is quite simply under-powered. Passing situations have to be debated, the throttle has to be floored to tackle those steep hills and plenty of shuffling back to second and third gear in the clean shifting manual or J-gate adaptive auto is required to keep things on the boil.
The accleration figures back this up, 9.4 seconds 0-100km/h for the manual and a glacial - by Jaguar standards - 10.8 seconds for the auto. Never has traction control seemed so superfluous.
But in comparison to its rivals from Germany, it is right in the executive car park, and that's the argument Jaguar puts up. It is an entry level car for people mostly new to the marque who will not have expectation of limitless acceleration that those of us lucky enough to have sampled the S-Type R - for instance - will have.
The rest of the package is as we have covered it off before. The cabin is elegant, civilised and perhaps a little plain - particularly around the instrument pod, interior space is good for a Jaguar and average for anyone else, refinement levels are high and the quality of the finish a bit hit and miss.
Overall, however, it is an excellent execution of a car that commercial reality dictated Jaguar had to build.
It may not be the fastest, sexiest or most desirable big cat we have ever seen, but it will certainly be popular.