I finally had the time to drive up to Los Angeles yesterday to take delivery of the '07 X-Type that we purchased for me 2-weeks ago. We drove Janet's '08 X-Type up and she followed me for the 150-mile trip home. The '07 drives exactly like the '08 with the only noticeable difference being; it's a bit smoother due to having 205/55 HR 16 tires on Antares wheels vs. 225/40 ZR 18 on Aruba's. Once we got underway the 1st thing that I noticed was the '07 does not have a trip computer (avg speed, MPG, etc.), nor does it have the auto-dim rear view mirror. The '07 appears to be a Base/Standard model whereas the '08 has the Luxury Package (contrast seat piping, wood trim steering wheel, etc.) though it doesn't have navigation.

The car performed flawlessly on the 150mi drive home. By the time we made it to I-15 Janet had settled into into a nice trailing position several car lengths behind me, and we looked like a Jaguar freight train cruising along at 80MPH (Yeah it helps to carry a badge; "just in case"). Janet's been driving the '08 for her 30-mile round trip to work for the past 2-months, this was the first time that she spent time behind the wheel driving it at real highway speeds and at night. She gained a lot of confidence in both the car's and her own ability to handle demanding conditions, and I feel good knowing that the X-Type will take care of her.

'hope everyone is having a good weekend.

 

my 2001 has no sat nav, no wooden steering wheel (would love that though) but I do have active rear view mirror and A/B trip computer with all stats you mention, so not sure what's that's on about

 

Does your turn signal stalk not have the push button? I know that sounds simplistic but, I asked that of someone else a while back who questioned performance and it was just changing the display from button.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...uestion-64060/

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...omputer-10878/

As for auto dimming mirror, I think before 2007 it was added with the cold weather option, (heated seats, rain sensing, auto dim).

If you do a Google search there are posts on changing standard to auto dimming.

 

My 2007 model has the wooden steering wheel, the trip computer stuff (via the left hand stalk on the steering column), self-darkening mirror, rain detecting wipers etc., but doesn't have sat.nav.

 

MY UK spec XTYPE sovereign has the Sat Nav which is next to useless because it cant be updated. Jaguar went to a new system in 2010 and don't support the old one.
I had a wood steering wheel on a previous car and even with our poor UK summer sunshine you could not touch the wheel on a bright summers day. Be careful what you wish for.

 

It seems to me that here in the U.S. dealers chose from the available options and ordered cars from Jaguar to meet what potential customers would likely desire to help sell the car, which would explain the variations. Both of my X-Types were purchased new from dealers here in So Cal, which would explain why neither of them have heated seats.

I'm surprised that there wasn't a "Grey Poupon" option available (fold-down tray tables) on Euro-spec X-Types. I probably have a pair of them lying around somewhere from my XJ40 days.. How much fun would it be installing them in Janet's X-Type! JK.


Cheers!

Chad & Janet