Early X-Type 3.0 V6 vs later models?
Discussion
Hi all,
Due to a change in circumstances I may soon have to consolidate down to one cheap car for a while, and these are on the list. Probably along with a 3.0 Legacy. I live in a place where it does generally snow at times during the winter and parts become a bit inaccessible when this happens, hence favouring an AWD car.
I've read a bit about these cars and gather that the earlier AWD system is better, but are the later cars a better overall package? If so, why? What did they do differently?
Due to a change in circumstances I may soon have to consolidate down to one cheap car for a while, and these are on the list. Probably along with a 3.0 Legacy. I live in a place where it does generally snow at times during the winter and parts become a bit inaccessible when this happens, hence favouring an AWD car.
I've read a bit about these cars and gather that the earlier AWD system is better, but are the later cars a better overall package? If so, why? What did they do differently?
As far as I remember after 2004 Jaguar changed the Transfer case opting instead to use DSC to optimise the AWD Traction . Unfortunately not all X Types came with DSC and as far as I am aware cant be retrofitted . I had a neighbour for many years who owned one and he reckoned fitting Snow Tyres improved things no matter what version you had . Personally my money would be in the Subaru though not the Legacy , the Forester XTE is a proper tool for the snow .
I ran a 2006 3.0 manual Sovereign for over three years between early 2013 and late 2016, and still maintain that overall, it was the best daily I’ve had so far.
Comfortable, reliable, a decent turn of speed, handled well, and, with some decent quality all season tyres, utterly dependable in some pretty bad winter weather.
As with any car of this age, check underneath thoroughly for rust, including sills and lower front wings especially. Mine was actually fine, but I always topped up the underside with a bit of waxoyl every time I worked under the car. She’s still going strong according to Gov.uk website
For its age, the tech was pretty good. Voice command worked a treat, heated screen and seats were lovely for winter, and the sat nav, cruise, AC etc all worked fine.
Other than regular servicing, it cost me a set of tyres, a pair of rear ARB bushes, a pair of front pads and an O2 sensor in those three years. All carried out by myself, they’re pretty straightforward to work on.
HTH
Comfortable, reliable, a decent turn of speed, handled well, and, with some decent quality all season tyres, utterly dependable in some pretty bad winter weather.
As with any car of this age, check underneath thoroughly for rust, including sills and lower front wings especially. Mine was actually fine, but I always topped up the underside with a bit of waxoyl every time I worked under the car. She’s still going strong according to Gov.uk website
For its age, the tech was pretty good. Voice command worked a treat, heated screen and seats were lovely for winter, and the sat nav, cruise, AC etc all worked fine.
Other than regular servicing, it cost me a set of tyres, a pair of rear ARB bushes, a pair of front pads and an O2 sensor in those three years. All carried out by myself, they’re pretty straightforward to work on.
HTH
I think as a cheap, sporty daily it'll be hard to beat, aside from the mpg. I'd be interested to know if the change to the AWD system on facelift cars is worth avoiding? Does the updated model as a package outweigh the older model or should I look for a 2003 or earlier car being that I do specifically want it to work in snow?
I have a 2005 with DSC and Viscous Coupling - but only because I've changed the transfer box 3 times now and last time I just decided to forget the high expense/high effort new ones or full rebuilds and just bought a pre-2004 box for £150 and fitted it.
Whilst the car is really good in the snow (on winter tyres - it's as crap as anything else in snow on 225 section summer tyres), the DSC doesn't work as an alternative to the viscous coupling in practise. It's a system that nips the brakes to prevent wheel spin, but to prevent overheating the brakes (in ice and snow - heh heh) it has a half-arsed attempt at it before locking out the brake modulation function then just resorts to cutting power. It's completely useless. You're better turning the DSC off and just tweaking the hand brake to force some drive to the front wheels when on the post-2004 open centre differential.
With the viscous coupling it's much better. I should qualify the above and say that all that rear wheel spin hassle was on summer tyres. Fit winter tyres and the car is absolutely brilliant in snow. I used it to plow 14" deep snow from my driveway. I'd mushed through the worst of it by the time my wife started filming but you can see from the front bumper that it was much deeper in places to start with.
https://www.facebook.com/jamie.duff.75/videos/1015...
It's always fun to be able to get a dab of opposite lock on your own driveway. By the way it's snow covered grass I turned round on up at the end. With these tyres on the car is just superb on slippery stuff. In the above video it's doing this on the later open centre diff - so in summary get the best car you can regardless of age and invest in a set of tyres. If you happen to need a new transfer box, buy an older one. They're completely interchangable. The later one has a pup-spool inside in lieu of the viscous coupling is all.
The 3.0 Legacy would probably be even better in snow in truth, but what the X-Type has in its favour are very cheap parts so running costs are pretty modest.
Whilst the car is really good in the snow (on winter tyres - it's as crap as anything else in snow on 225 section summer tyres), the DSC doesn't work as an alternative to the viscous coupling in practise. It's a system that nips the brakes to prevent wheel spin, but to prevent overheating the brakes (in ice and snow - heh heh) it has a half-arsed attempt at it before locking out the brake modulation function then just resorts to cutting power. It's completely useless. You're better turning the DSC off and just tweaking the hand brake to force some drive to the front wheels when on the post-2004 open centre differential.
With the viscous coupling it's much better. I should qualify the above and say that all that rear wheel spin hassle was on summer tyres. Fit winter tyres and the car is absolutely brilliant in snow. I used it to plow 14" deep snow from my driveway. I'd mushed through the worst of it by the time my wife started filming but you can see from the front bumper that it was much deeper in places to start with.
https://www.facebook.com/jamie.duff.75/videos/1015...
It's always fun to be able to get a dab of opposite lock on your own driveway. By the way it's snow covered grass I turned round on up at the end. With these tyres on the car is just superb on slippery stuff. In the above video it's doing this on the later open centre diff - so in summary get the best car you can regardless of age and invest in a set of tyres. If you happen to need a new transfer box, buy an older one. They're completely interchangable. The later one has a pup-spool inside in lieu of the viscous coupling is all.
The 3.0 Legacy would probably be even better in snow in truth, but what the X-Type has in its favour are very cheap parts so running costs are pretty modest.
Edited by jamieduff1981 on Friday 25th June 14:09
jamieduff1981 said:
I have a 2005 with DSC and Viscous Coupling - but only because I've changed the transfer box 3 times now and last time I just decided to forget the high expense/high effort new ones or full rebuilds and just bought a pre-2004 box for £150 and fitted it.
Whilst the car is really good in the snow (on winter tyres - it's as crap as anything else in snow on 225 section summer tyres), the DSC doesn't work as an alternative to the viscous coupling in practise. It's a system that nips the brakes to prevent wheel spin, but to prevent overheating the brakes (in ice and snow - heh heh) it has a half-arsed attempt at it before locking out the brake modulation function then just resorts to cutting power. It's completely useless. You're better turning the DSC off and just tweaking the hand brake to force some drive to the front wheels when on the post-2004 open centre differential.
With the viscous coupling it's much better. I should qualify the above and say that all that rear wheel spin hassle was on summer tyres. Fit winter tyres and the car is absolutely brilliant in snow. I used it to plow 14" deep snow from my driveway. I'd mushed through the worst of it by the time my wife started filming but you can see from the front bumper that it was much deeper in places to start with.
https://www.facebook.com/jamie.duff.75/videos/1015...
It's always fun to be able to get a dab of opposite lock on your own driveway. By the way it's snow covered grass I turned round on up at the end. With these tyres on the car is just superb on slippery stuff. In the above video it's doing this on the later open centre diff - so in summary get the best car you can regardless of age and invest in a set of tyres. If you happen to need a new transfer box, buy an older one. They're completely interchangable. The later one has a pup-spool inside in lieu of the viscous coupling is all.
The 3.0 Legacy would probably be even better in snow in truth, but what the X-Type has in its favour are very cheap parts so running costs are pretty modest.
I've had six Imprezas so fancy something different to be honest and Subaru parts prices can be stupid for bits you have to get from the manufacturer. I always use the right tyres in winter too, so that's not a concern. I didn't know you could just swap the transfer box, sounds like a bit of a best of both worlds setup?Whilst the car is really good in the snow (on winter tyres - it's as crap as anything else in snow on 225 section summer tyres), the DSC doesn't work as an alternative to the viscous coupling in practise. It's a system that nips the brakes to prevent wheel spin, but to prevent overheating the brakes (in ice and snow - heh heh) it has a half-arsed attempt at it before locking out the brake modulation function then just resorts to cutting power. It's completely useless. You're better turning the DSC off and just tweaking the hand brake to force some drive to the front wheels when on the post-2004 open centre differential.
With the viscous coupling it's much better. I should qualify the above and say that all that rear wheel spin hassle was on summer tyres. Fit winter tyres and the car is absolutely brilliant in snow. I used it to plow 14" deep snow from my driveway. I'd mushed through the worst of it by the time my wife started filming but you can see from the front bumper that it was much deeper in places to start with.
https://www.facebook.com/jamie.duff.75/videos/1015...
It's always fun to be able to get a dab of opposite lock on your own driveway. By the way it's snow covered grass I turned round on up at the end. With these tyres on the car is just superb on slippery stuff. In the above video it's doing this on the later open centre diff - so in summary get the best car you can regardless of age and invest in a set of tyres. If you happen to need a new transfer box, buy an older one. They're completely interchangable. The later one has a pup-spool inside in lieu of the viscous coupling is all.
The 3.0 Legacy would probably be even better in snow in truth, but what the X-Type has in its favour are very cheap parts so running costs are pretty modest.
Edited by jamieduff1981 on Friday 25th June 14:09
Not particularly interested in lowering the car but looking around for replacement shocks, there doesn't seem to be many options, one of which being KW V1 coilovers, but wouldn't want to make it too harsh.
Each body style, Sport or Comfort spec and FWD or AWD option had their own spring and damper combination on these and it does make a difference. They're pretty straight forward to change. Mine is knocking on 130k on the clock now and I've replaced all the springs and dampers. A spring broke so I needed to dismantle that corner anyway. None of the shocks had been even mentioned in MOTs but I renewed the whole lot at the same time. It felt like a new car afterwards. There are a few good places online for getting OE parts are a decent price so I used the specified OE items. Some of the rear suspension links can wear out giving a poor drive and uneven tyre wear but they're just Mk3 Mondeo Estate items and cost buttons to renew.
It's not the best car in the world, but it's possibly one of the cheapest 6 cylinder AWD cars you can keep driving like it was brand new.
It's not the best car in the world, but it's possibly one of the cheapest 6 cylinder AWD cars you can keep driving like it was brand new.
TroubledSoul said:
Who is it you use for parts? I'll have to decide whether to try and make it a tad more entertaining or just renew stuff OEM style. Not sure yet.
There's a list of places I've bought from:Britishparts.co.uk
Justjagsuk.com
berkshirejagcomponents.com
SNG Barratt has probably the most comprehensive offering but are typically more expensive than the above three - still, sometimes they're the best place to go to
For stuff like brake discs, pads, front wheel bearings and stuff Mk3 Mondeo bits work fine. Not so with rear wheel bearings which are particular to AWD X-Types but they're usually about £70 a go - they come as a complete hub assembly you bolt to the trailing arm so whilst expensive compared to a front wheel bearing in parts, they're a lot easier to fit even if the bolt heads are corroded and you have to grind the heads off, remove the hub and weld nuts onto the remaining studs. I'd rather that that remove McPherson struts and fart about with the press. Still, I'm lucky to have a press I suppose...
Gassing Station | Jaguar | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff