Solving for X ; We drive the Jaguar X-Type along th eRiver Wye and do the math.

Just about the only unknown variable regarding the upcoming Jaguar X-Type has been what it's like to drive. Jaguar's marketing drum started beating in earnest last November, though the car didn't turn up for its auto show debut until Geneva in March and won't be sold in the United Kingdom until June and the United States until August.

We knew the standard all-wheel-drive system uses a viscous center differential, that the Cd is 0.32 base and 0.33 with Sport option package, and that a fiber-optics network links computers to run the navigation and telematics features. We've seen the Simon Butterworth design several times, noted that it borders on clutter with its copious, otherwise welcome Jaguar styling cues, and wondered about the level of craftsmanship that might come from the refurbished ex-Ford factory at Halewood that will be devoted to X-Type production.

We knew the price of the base 2.5-liter car ($29,995) and of the 3.0-liter edition ($35,595) and that you can pad either one out with nearly $12,000 in options if you check every box.

But how does it all add up?

Only now that we've driven the car can we solve for X. The answer turns out to be positive. Details in a moment.

First, a reminder of how the math works. X-Type, Jaguar's first foray into the 3 Series/A4/C-Class entry-level luxury segment, aims to double the marque's sales worldwide. It's the big roll of the dice that parent company Ford hopes will enhance its profit from the burgeoning demand for luxury cars, the doubling of sales in question being atop an earlier doubling when the mid-level S-Type was added to the mix.

As such, X-Type represents not only a single model, but a vast expansion of the company as a whole in terms of engineering resources, factory capacity, marketing muscle and eventually, sales support and service. The Halewood factory project alone cost $450 million from Dearborn's stash of cash. And the ``nickel and dime'' stuff included an all-wheel-drive transfer case dynamometer cell for the Whitley Engineering Center that came in at a