One For The Open Road
by David Finlay (05 Jul 07)

I was quick to agree with a friend who came over all squirmy when I parked the X-Type outside his house. It has been around for a few years now, and although quite a few elegant estate cars have been introduced more recently, I can't think of many which are quite as good-looking as this one.

The same friend was rather disheartened when I mentioned that the X-Type uses the same platform as the last-generation Ford Mondeo, and there we differed. I know that a lot of people get very sniffy about this, but platform sharing does not lead to the production of identical cars, and there is nothing about the X-Type which immediately reminds you of the old Mondeo (not that it would be a big problem if there were).

Right, that's that off my chest. On now to the test car, in which I covered more than 1200 miles in less than a week. You won't be surprised to learn that this involved a lot of motorway driving, and I've come to the conclusion that motorways are this car's home territory.

From past experience of X-Type diesels I'm slightly surprised by this. I assume that there have been developments which Jaguar has not drawn much attention to, because in earlier tests I've complained about noisy engines and poor ride quality. This car was notably quiet - partly because 70mph equates to well under 2000rpm in sixth gear - and it wafted along major routes very comfortably.

I wouldn't have believed this last bit the first time I saw the car. The Sport Premium comes as standard with 18" Proteus alloy wheels (which I must say look sensational) and low-profile tyres, and I was expecting a very jittery ride. As things turned out, though, remarkably little information about uneven road surfaces was conveyed into the cabin.

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