Jaguar X-Type Spongy Brakes

Does that include the new 6-speed Focus ST with the 2.5lt, 5-pot Volvo engine?

Correct! I like manual gearboxes (when they're slick & smooth). I prefer the simplicity of a manual gearbox. I like to stir up the cogs myself and select the gear I want, when I want it.

It's a long story. I was actually after a 'facelift' Mondeo ST220 (does the ST220 have a cable gear change?). The chance of the Jag came up at short notice. The 3.0 Jaguar Sport Premium is basically a ST220 wearing a different hat. I liked the idea of 4WD. I though the Jag was the better looking car.

Jeremy Clarkson said the Jaguar 3.0 Sport Premium was a good motor :-)

I had been driving the same V6 Mondeo for the past 10 years. It had a gear change as smooth & slick as you could ever want. In fact, the new owner commented on how superb the gear change was. It was a rod operated mechanism that, apart from an occasional squirt of lubricant, had not been touched in 102,000 miles. The gearbox oil had been changed twice over the years, the second time to use the new Ford 75W-90 BO Transmission oil (WSD-M2C200-C), which is straw coloured, rather than red.

I didn't think I could go far wrong buying an ex-management Jaguar with

17,000 miles on the clock and 14 months Jaguar warranty remaining. As the Jag was 140 miles away, I had as good as bought it before I persuaded a friend to drive me up to see it. The vehicle was immaculate.

I never managed to test drive a 3.0 manual Jag before seeing the one I bought.

I noticed the 'soft' brakes, but assumed (wrongly) that a brake fluid change and bleeding the system would sort it. All the discs and pads were fine.

The service from the Jaguar Main Dealer in Reading has been first class (they can't fix the unfixable).

They have greased and adjusted the gear change cables, and the gear change is now vastly improved. It's no longer akin to a stick in a bucket of gravel. However, I think the fact that the cables had to be greased and adjusted at 17,000 miles kind of proves my point about cable gear changes.

I guess if I want a 'stick straight in the box', I'll have to buy a BMW?

That's not the point - very few people will buy a Jag with a manual shifter when you come to sell it.

But it's not the right car for you.

The X-type and new Mondeo are significantly different to the old one.

Doesn't mean a thing if you don't like the way it drives.

You wouldn't have found one to test anyway

But you still decided to spend a huge stack of money on a car you've never driven?

You should have bought an automatic.....

It is the point if I happen to prefer a manual. Anyway, I couldn't have bought the Mondeo ST220 in auto, they don't make one.

If you happen to want the Jaguar 4WD 3.0 Sport Premium, you'll be hard pushed to find one with an auto box.

I found seven for sale yesterday, and they were all manual.

It could have been, with decent brakes and a decent gear change.

The auto version wouldn't be right either, if the brakes became a deciding issue.

Yes they are. I understood they were supposed to be better.

Only the tight time scale stopped me from finding one to test drive. There's plenty of 3.0 Sport Premium manuals around. The challenge would have been finding a 3.0 Sport Premium auto to test drive.

Possibly, and maybe it should have been a Mercedes C320...

mlv ( snipped-for-privacy@jet.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Is that because all the auto ones were already sold?

" "

Are the brakes any different between all the various trim levels?

I would have thought so.

AFAIK, Mondeos have had cable gearchanges since the Mk 2 (My 1998 2.0 Ghia had cables).

Pete.