[xj] Unusual Competition: X-type Wagon vs Subaru Outback

Next weekend I will be helping carry out a very interesting
and unexpected comparion; my mother wants to replace her
2001 Subaru Outback with another AWD stationwagon.
She was very happy with her Outback, however she loved the
1994 XJ12 I just sold so now a Jaguar is the 2nd
possibility.

Price-wise, a new Subaru Outback 3.0R is about $45,000 (!)
compared to a one-year used X-type AWD Wagon at $43,000
asking.

I have driven the Subaru last year, and the 3.0R is
fantastic car; extremely high quality interior, very fast
250hp turbo-4 and very good ride and handling (made my 92
V12 VDP feel soggy and sluggish!).

I have not driven an X-type, although I think stylistically
it has the advantage. It will all come down to what my
mother thinks of the driving experience. There is also her
perceived problem of driving an ‘‘ostentatious car’’ in a
small town, but I’m sure a good driving experience will
cause modesty to be forgotten.

I’m also curious to drive the two back to back; this is a
comparison I never would have come up with.

I’ll post back with the results - I’m cautiously optimistic
that the Jaguar will win; it is better looking and hopefully
it is on par quality-wise and driving-wise.
I would personally rather have the 2006 Subaru as a daily
driver over both the V12 VDP or the XJ12, but hopefully
Jaguar has made significant progress over the 12 years in
between those cars and the X-type.

Cheers,
Chris
1992 V12 VDP–
thetopdogg
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Ummmm…the 3.0R Suby is a six cylinder normally aspirated model. IMHO, the
performance is only so-so, with 219 lb/ft of torque at a rather peaky 4200
rpm…further handicapped by a trans that wants to come out of 1st gear
before you’ve even made it across the intersection … but your mother will
never notice :-). Still a very nice car though, well built and finished,
and pretty darn reliable…those coming into our shop for other than
routine service usually having only electrical glitches to sort out but
that’s pretty common on cars these days. So far we have not seen any
internal engine problems with the 6-cylinder cars and it appears that they
may be virtually oil-leak free…a luxury seldom known by owners of the
4-cylinder models :slight_smile:

We’ve had a couple complaints that the all wheel drive doesn’t work as
anticipated. Specifically, the front wheels seem to do all the work while
the rears are doing little more than going along for the ride…but
customers are expecting power to go “from the wheels that slip to the wheels
that grip”. Sadly, Suby tech literature is totally devoid of any testing or
diag procedure to address this and pleas to the manufacturer for advice have
gone unanswered.

From a consumer perspective, Subaru (at least Subaru of America) is much
more “pro-customer” than Jaguar seems to be. They’ve sorta hid their heads
in the sand on fixing piston and head gasket issues but are at least
willing to help customers out with repair expense after the warranty
expires…and the customer doesn’t have to beg, yell, or threaten legal
action, either :-). I’ll add that Subaru is very proactive about recalls,
too. They launch their own repair campaigns without being ordered to do so
by big brother.

A Subaru is one of those cars you can recommend to a friend or family member
with little chance of the advice coming back to haunt you :-).

If your mom was interested in high performance cars she’d find the little
turbo’d Suby WRX to be more fun than a barrel full of monkeys :slight_smile:

Now, the Jaguar X-type. I’ve driven dozens of Subarus but only one X-type,
and that only for 10 minutes. This was a 3.0L automatic and I must say that
it felt faster than the Suby 3.0, perhaps because the torque peaks at 3000
rpm rather than 4200 rpm…although the Jag seems to suffer from the same
premature shift out of 1st gear that the Suby does…at least with the
trans in “normal” rather than “sport” mode. I was impressed at the solidity
of the car as it feels much more substantial than it looks. The steering
and cornering was impressive. The fit and finish is very good. I wish I
could’ve spent more time behind the wheel, that’s for sure.

I understand that your mom doesn’t want to be
ostentatious…but…well… if ever the was a …ahem…neutral image
car, its the Subaru. I suspect she’ll warm up to the Jaguar very easily
:-).

Be a good son and do the right thing for mom. Put her in a Jag :-). Even
moms only go around once in life.

Doug Dwyer
Longview Washington USA
1995 XJR
1988 XJS V12 CoupeFrom: “thetopdogg” thetopdogg@hotmail.com

Next weekend I will be helping carry out a very interesting
and unexpected comparion; my mother wants to replace her
2001 Subaru Outback with another AWD stationwagon.

I have driven the Subaru last year, and the 3.0R is
fantastic car; extremely high quality interior, very fast
250hp turbo-4 and very good ride and handling (made my 92
V12 VDP feel soggy and sluggish!).

===================================================
The archives and FAQ will answer many queries on the XJ series…
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In reply to a message from Doug Dwyer sent Sun 17 Sep 2006:

Never heard of this problem before after 18 months of browsing and
sharing X type info with an X type!–
The original message included these comments:

rpm rather than 4200 rpm…although the Jag seems to suffer from the same
premature shift out of 1st gear that the Suby does…at least with the
trans in ‘‘normal’’ rather than ‘‘sport’’ mode. I was impressed at the solidity


BuckMR2, X Type 3.0 Sport, Man,Cruise+Rev Park retrofitted
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
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I’m not so sure it is a “problem” in the sense of being a defect needing a
repair, just a characteristic I noticed. On the few off-the-lines starts I
made, using a fair amount of throttle, I expected the trans to stay in 1st
longer. I suppose I just wasn’t using enough throttle.

Doug Dwyer
Longview Washington USA
1995 XJR
1988 XJS V12 CoupeFrom: “BuckMR2” buckmr2@aol.com

Never heard of this problem before after 18 months of browsing and
sharing X type info with an X type!

In reply to a message from Doug Dwyer sent Sun 17 Sep 2006:

The original message included these comments:

rpm rather than 4200 rpm…although the Jag seems to suffer from the
same
premature shift out of 1st gear that the Suby does…at least with the
trans in ‘‘normal’’ rather than ‘‘sport’’ mode.

===================================================
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In reply to a message from Doug Dwyer sent Sun 17 Sep 2006:

My mistake, I meant to say I’d driven the turbo-4, the XT I
believe. I also have noticed the Subaru’s tendency to be
very jumpy and have a short 1st gear, probably to make up
for the relative lack of low-end torque?
Either way, I really liked the driving experience and I
sincerely hope the Jaguar will offer the same and more!

Regarding the WRX STi, one of my roomates just got one, and
it is insanely fast… Though I don’t think my 57 year old
mother would appreciate the explosive power and huge rear
spoiler and hood scoop as much as someone my age… :slight_smile: Her
main concern is ‘‘Can it make it up our 1km unplowed driveway
in 3 inches of snow, can it carry 6 pair of X-country skis
and can the dog and my bicycle also fit?’’

-Chris–
thetopdogg
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I think they are coming out with an “old guys” version soon…same
mechanicals, just less of the street-racer-image stuff. Still, your mom
wouldn’t like it :slight_smile:

They really are a gas to drive, huh ? :slight_smile:

Doug Dwyer
Longview Washington USA
1995 XJR
1988 XJS V12 CoupeFrom: “thetopdogg” thetopdogg@hotmail.com

Regarding the WRX STi, one of my roomates just got one, and
it is insanely fast… Though I don’t think my 57 year old
mother would appreciate the explosive power and huge rear
spoiler and hood scoop as much as someone my age… :slight_smile:

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Sounds like a task for a Crown Victoria station wagon! :slight_smile:

Craig
thetopdogg wrote:> Her

main concern is ‘‘Can it make it up our 1km unplowed driveway
in 3 inches of snow, can it carry 6 pair of X-country skis
and can the dog and my bicycle also fit?’’

===================================================
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In reply to a message from thetopdogg sent Sun 17 Sep 2006:

A buddy of mine recently bought a demo '06 Outback XT with auto,
navigation, the whole ball of wax recently. I think the sticker
was upwards of $40k too (though he paid $26k with 10k miles). I
would say it’s only nice. It goes like hell but the interior,
while sporty looking, is covered in lots of cheap gray plastic that
isn’t fastened terrible securely. My honey’s sister has an '05
Legacy GT that in almost 2 years and 40k miles (she does
realestate) hasn’t held up as as well as her previous Ford Explorer
that she had for 5 years. The cheap gray plastic has become
scratched around the console and the knobs in the climate control
have become dirty and gritty. Both of these Subarus get horrendous
fuel economy. The realestate agent, driving mostly in town, gets
only 17mpg while my buddy in his XT, at best on the highway at
60mph gets 22. This is probably about inline with the Jaguar
(maybe a little low for the highway), but it’s 6’s smoothness and
being able to run regular unleaded gasoline without too much
resistance will pay back in no time.

Kevin Rybak
Mill Creek, WA–
Merkurwwu
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