Xtype/Contour comparison

[NorMich99SE]

So last weekend I was at my future in-laws house and had a chance to look over their X-Type. I know that it's based off of the Mondeo platform, and this isn't the first time I've looked one over, I've driven a few before actually. This was the first time though I've had one I could crawl around with a camera and had my SVT right there as well. So, I decided to take some comparison photos for fun. Not sure if anyone else finds this stuff interesting or not, but what the heck, doesn't hurt anything right? So here we go.
Let's start with the dash, what I most noticed is the vent locations, guage layout, and some of the switchgear, like headlight knob and steering column levers. Pardon the trash in my SVT, it's a bit of a drive to their house and snackage is a must.

then there's the pull handle for the trunk. Now, on the Jag it's for the fuel door, but about the only thing that looks different is the picture on the thing.

Same idea goes for the hood release

There is a bit more difference in the door panels, but still a lot of similarity I think.

To be continued....had 4 pics to many, lol

 

[NorMich99SE]

And lastly, just the overall shape, which is the most obvious of them all to me.

Then just a shot I thought was cool

 

[ancientsanskrit]

http://contour.org/ceg-vb/showthread.php?t=14944&highlight=x-type

What'd you think about the driving similarities? AWD :drool:. Amenities it's like night and day, and the X-type is far from being technologically current. I recently sat in an '07 G35 sedan and was just flabbergasted with all the 'gizmos!'

 

[ryanblacksvt]

The door panels resemble the Mazda Millenia more than a contour

 

[Klasse Act]

...and another similarity

...and another similarity

...after a short production run, the X-type is dead in the U.S. after how many years:shrug: Atleast the 3.0L was available w/ a 5spd and AWD standard. The X-type is a pretty nice car, but there's so many choices in its market that it didn't standout enough I guess

 

[Beans]

Your SVT is missing exhaust :shrug:

 

[monkey_matt]

the pull switch on the drivers side floor, on the Contour it opens the boot? (trunk) On the Mondeo its the same as the Jag, opens the fuel filler cap, button for the boot is below the lights on the back, on the hatch, pretty sure its the same in the Saloon

 

[BadDoctorFrost]

I've known this for years. The door panels look a lot more like the Mystique's since we had our controls on the arm pad and not the door itself. One thing I noticed about the X-Type is that the build quality more resembles the 98+ Contour instead of the pre-98. Sad, but true in my experience...

 

[MLuko]

can you take any pics of the under side of the x-type??

 

[rouar]

the pull switch on the drivers side floor, on the Contour it opens the boot? (trunk) On the Mondeo its the same as the Jag, opens the fuel filler cap, button for the boot is below the lights on the back, on the hatch, pretty sure its the same in the Saloon

That's the style for a lot of luxury cars around here (Mercedes-Benz, Infiniti G35, etc). But most sedans have only two or three options to open the trunk: from the keyhole, from the interior, and from the remote.

I personally prefer how it was done in my Maxima. The interior release is on the door, and wired to a solenoid, which is the same solenoid which is used to open the trunk from the keyless entry remote. Kills two birds with one stone, allows you to place the interior release anywhere, and you don't have to worry about that cable rusting/breaking/anything.

Pre98 Contours have that pull switch to open both the fuel door and the trunk. You can push it to open the fuel door, or pull it to open the trunk.

 

[RespectTheContour]

my ex-girlfriend now has an x-type...and a boob job, guess she didnt need me afterall :shrug: haha

 

[striker2]

That's the style for a lot of luxury cars around here (Mercedes-Benz, Infiniti G35, etc). But most sedans have only two or three options to open the trunk: from the keyhole, from the interior, and from the remote.

I personally prefer how it was done in my Maxima. The interior release is on the door, and wired to a solenoid, which is the same solenoid which is used to open the trunk from the keyless entry remote. Kills two birds with one stone, allows you to place the interior release anywhere, and you don't have to worry about that cable rusting/breaking/anything.

Pre97 Contours have that pull switch to open both the fuel door and the trunk. You can push it to open the fuel door, or pull it to open the trunk.

Fixed. Ford dropped the remote fuel door for the 97 model year as it had to many issues.

 

[PurpleMystique]

Yeah, the remote fuel door on my '96 Mystique would stick shut when it was cold out.

 

[hotdimmes]

How about a handling/driving comparison? I've always wondered why the MK3 mondeo spanks the X-Type in that Top Gear track comparison video. I know the X-Type is based on a shortened version of the mk3 mondeo platform...that sure seems to make a huge difference.

 

[NorMich99SE]

can you take any pics of the under side of the x-type??

Well, we had an X-Type come into our quick lube today just as I was leaving, so I grabbed the camera and went down into the pit. The pics aren't great, but it was kind of hard to get good ones down there. The car was a 2.5 AWD with an auto.

Under side of the engine, looking forward, that's the driveshaft coming out of the trans in the center of the pic

A couple of the rear suspension, each side, 2 different angles

Then a shot looking forward from just under the rear diff.

That's all I got before I noticed the owner sitting upstairs kind of half looking downstairs, probably wondering why some guy in uniform was taking pics under his car, lol.

 

[ancientsanskrit]

Heh, I always thought our filter was tough to get to (Duratec), then I recently did an oil change on our X-type. Mind you this was the first time I've done one on this platform. Plus, Jaguar recommends doing the 10k mile/quality filter on Syn-blend...yeah that's not going to happen now that we own it. Anyways, I'm assuming the filter hadn't been touched in about 10k miles. Plus, I'm sure the mechanic didn't lube the washer. Anyways, it was total suckage. I ended up puncturing a hole w/a screwdriver to get the sucker out.

I also wanted to use a quality synthetic, however it voids Jag's extended warranty. :shrug: So I'm using a dedicated dino every 3k miles + Motorcraft filter.

Anyways, taking a Jag/ any luxury sedan to a lube shop = :nonono:. Unless this was your BMW dealership. Out of curiosity how much do you guys charge for oil changes. I was flabbergasted when Jag dealership wanted $85-90. :shocked: I guess I can understand if it was synthetic, but synthetic-blend, cmon now, that's robbery.

 

[NorMich99SE]

Our quick lube is part of the Ford side, but we have a very good reputation in the area. They don't let us do so much as add air to the tires of the BMW's though. This particular car was getting Mobil 1 5w/50 that we had to order for him and obviously a Motorcraft filter. We've got a couple of regular Jag customers since the closest Jag dealer is in Grand Rapids 2 hours away, also a couple of Land Rover customers. We've even had a guy bring his cherry 55 T-Bird a couple of times. He brings his own filter and stuff but we do everything else. Last time we did that car it took us over an hour because the gasket for the filter was bent and wouldn't seat right.
As for price, a standard 6 quart with 5/20 synthetic blend Motorcraft oil runs $32.14, but if you use a full syn, the price is usually around $55. I'm guessing the Jag dealer costs so much because they pay a technician book time to do it, which is probably at least half an hour.