| It took Jaguar a very long time to get round
to a estate, never mind a diesel estate, but Dean Slavnich reckons it
was worth the wait.
Jaguar has been late to enter the estate game, but the X-Type estate may have been worth the wait |
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By all reason, this car should not exist. The idea that Jaguar, a proud
petrol-driven premium brand, would ever construct a front-wheel-drive,
diesel powered estate would, until very recently, have been considered
laughable.
How things change. The diesel market continues to go from strength to
strength, while estates or tourers or whatever tag one wishes to bestow
on them, take an 18% slice of the CD premium market segment.
In true Germanic fashion, the engineers from Inglostadt, Munich, and Stuttgart
put diesel engines and estate bodies together a long time ago, and so
in today’s sector Audi holds 35% of the premium estate market, BMW
takes 26%, while Mercedes pitches in with 15%. Even the Swedes –
that’s Volvo, not Saab – are in a strong position, covering
just over one-fifth of this market.
Which makes you ask why it took so long for Jaguar, now safely in the
Ford family, to even start to contemplate expanding its product portfolio
to estate models and diesel engines. They were only introduced to the
big cat brand last year.
“We wanted to ensure we could achieve the high quality we have become
renowned for,” said one Jaguar insider. The cynics might reckon
it was more that the Jaguar chiefs have dithered, not knowing whether
the premium petrol brand should ever go down the diesel/estate road, despite
the German big three very successfully marrying the two together.
The word from Jaguar is that it feels it has done a very good job on the
X-Type estate and that it will boost the model line-up. And indeed it
has.
Maybe, just maybe, it did need the best part of a decade to perfect this
load-lugger. Behind the wheel, the 2.0 litre diesel entry class X-Type
estate offers handling that’s more than apt, has a very good driveline
and a body stiffness that helps ensure a very good chassis.
It’s also aesthetically pleasing, with the vehicle being totally
redesigned from the B-pillars back by style chief Ian Callum. He said:
“A lot of people think it’s just a case of throwing a back
on a saloon, but it’s way more complicated than that.
“We’ve changed everything from the B-pillars back, so the
graphics and design of the estate are very much different to those of
the saloon.”
So the X-Type estate has new rear doors, a completely new roof and rear
body structure and additional rear quarter windows.
Jaguar engineers have even thrown in a few gizmos for good measure. For
example, the tailgate has an independently opening rear window as well
as the conventional full tailgate opening – a nice touch that first
featured on the BMW 3-Series touring.
Practicality and versatility, two keywords for estate buyers, have not
been forgotten by Jaguar engineers. The X-type estate, with its rear seats
folded, actually offers more load volume than the 3-Series Touring, C-Class
Estate and A4 Avant. For the record, the first big cat estate offers 1,415
litres of luggage volume with both rear seats folded forward, 685 litres
from boot to roof, and 445 litres from boot to glass.
All this and a tweaked Ford Mondeo diesel unit that will no doubt attract
most potential customers for the X-Type estate range. Powered by the 2.0
litre diesel, the X-Type estate offers a power output 130 ps (96 kW) coming
from 3,800 rpm and a torque output of 331 Nm (244 lb ft) achieved at a
low 1,800 rpm. Top speed is 198 km/h (123 mph), the fuel economy ranks
at 5.8 l/100 km (48.7 mpg) on combined while carbon emissions are restricted
to 154 g/km.
The other three engines available in the X-Type estate are all petrol-based:
a 2.0 litre V6; a 2.5 litre V6; and a range-topping, though fuel sapping,
3.0 litre V6.
First diesel. Now estate. Whatever next for Jaguar? Well, try an awesome
2.7 litre V6 diesel unit in the S-Type, but that’s later in the
year. The X-Type estate might be late, but for the sake of the British
carmaker, it’s truly a case of better late than never.
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