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JAGUAR MAY LOSE MYSTIQUE, GAIN MARKET SHARE

I am driving a Jaguar and thinking about skiing.

I am thinking about skiing because I am driving a Jaguar.

And what makes me think about skiing is how the 2000 S-Type Jaguar is performing. As downhill skiers get older, and often heavier, the way they ski and what they ski on often changes. Quick skis used in tight, repetitive and crisp turns give way to more stable boards, carving skis.

These are skis that cut graceful, long curves across the fall line, affording control and stability while still allowing the skier to dabble with high speed and dance on the edge.

I liken this new Jaguar — the one the company hopes will lead it into mass production on a scale Jaguar, pre-Ford ownership, did not seek — to a carving ski.

It is smooth, stable, not necessarily quick on tight turns, and fast if you want it to be.

When Jaguar first announced it would build this new model, and share some of its parts — platform, suspension, some bits of drivetrain — with Lincoln and Ford models, a curious hubbub arose. Would Jaguar somehow lose its mystique with such tangible American influence?

I say curious because Jaguars, while they have long held a certain cache, have also been known as finicky cats. I suspect that the American models with which it will do the sharing, the Lincoln LS and the reborn Thunderbird, will be the better for the sharing.

A short stint in the Lincoln, and more than a week in the rear-wheel-drive Jaguar, led me to this conclusion: The 2000 S-Type does a fine job of balancing luxury with a certain sportiness. I’m not ready to call it a full-blown sports sedan — it seems a bit too “boaty,” is not crisp enough on corners, and it does weigh nearly two tons — for that appellation.

But for straight-ahead surging in luxurious comfort, as in long highway trips, it is fun and feisty.

From the outside, it is a beautifully sculpted car. Its sparkling ovate grill, chrome-rimmed, round quadlight housings and sweeping hood that flows back to a broad windshield say Jaguar even in the unlikely event you do not notice the silver pouncing Cat hood ornament.

Some Jaguar aficionados may not like what has been done to the rear of the car, but I do: It has been chopped short (maintaining some semblance of the old hood lines) and this gives it a sportier look.

Inside, as you might expect, leather and wood (birdseye maple) abound. Leather covers the seats, dash and parts of the doors, while the maple is worked into the dash and doors. The steering wheel is wood and leather.

Gauges are simple and easy to spot through the top half of the steering wheel and controls for climate and acoustics are wrapped in an oval at the center of the dash. Controls for the trip computer (miles to go before your tank is empty, average speed, average miles per gallon, etc.) are separately and conveniently located high on the dash to the right of the steering wheel. In bright sunlight, I found the digital numbers on all the gauges hard to read. I had the same problem with the screen for the navigation system, which sits in the center of this cluster.

The navigation system breaks the country down into nine segments and with the correct CD inserted, you can program trips and even build in stops along the way. A voice command in any of several languages, including a differentiation between English and American English, warns of upcoming turns.

The seats are firm and adjust in multiple ways. Dual airbags in the front, with side bags there as well, protect you. Jaguar bills this as a five-passenger car, but on a long trip I would not want to be an adult squeezed into the rear middle seat.

On the road, it’s not snappy enough to be a true sports sedan and that makes me question Jaguar’s decision not to offer a manual transmission (you’d at least feel sporty doing your own shifting). Instead, it comes with a 5 peed automatic. Engine options include a 3-liter V-6 and a 4-liter V-8. I drove the V-8, and having driven the Lincoln LS in both V-6 and V-8 versions, I remain baffled as to why a V-6 is even being offered. I just don’t feel it has enough juice to satisfy the folks likely to buy these cars.

In a mix of highway commuting and driving rural roads, the DOHC, all-aluminum engine got just under 20 miles per gallon of gas — not bad for a car that cranks out 281 horsepower, cruises at 75 miles per hour while turning just 2,300 rpms, and that will do 0-60 in about 7 seconds.

It absorbed the bumps of back roads gracefully, carved sharp corners smoothly if not crisply, and on highways worked through commuter traffic in a fine touring style. Dynamic Stability Control can apply individual brakes to correct for over- or understeer, and disc brakes with rotors over 11 inches in diameter front and rear brought it to straight, quick stops.

It’s not a car that’s going to run with the 5 Series BMWs or midrange Mercedes, but as Jaguar tries to increase its worldwide production (22,000 of this model aimed at the United States for this model year), it will find its niche among Jaguar fans who may be surprised at the quality Ford has brought to the table.

Annoyances:

— The lack of storage space in the passenger compartment. Shallow bins in the doors; the telephone eats up all the space in the center console; and the CD changer takes up most of the glovebox.

— The glossy wood portion of the steering wheel. Too slippery. Wrap it all in leather.

Nice touches:

— The sound system. Van Morrison never sounded so good.

— The trunk. Sure they chopped off the back of the car, but because this is a taller car than most Jaguars, the trunk space lost in length is made up for in depth. It’s nice and roomy.

— I didn’t test it in this car, but an optional ($4,300) Deluxe Communications Package — navigational system, and voice activated controls for climate and audio system — sounds intriguing. Tell it 73 degrees and that’s what you get. Ask for a radio station, it will find it.

More on the Volvo 40s:

As several readers correctly pointed out to me, I left out an important bit of information in last week’s review of the Volvo V40 wagon. Both the wagon and the sedan are front-wheel drive automobiles. And while I’m at it, the engine is transversely mounted.

SIDEBAR:

The numbers

Base price: $48,000

Price as tested: $52,380

Horsepower/Torque: 287 lb./ft.

Wheelbase/Overall length: 114.5 inches/191.3 inches

Width/Height: 71.6 inches/55.7 inches

Curb weight: 3,770 lbs.

Seating: 5 passengers

SOURCE: Manufacturer