Jaguar's C-X17 SUV is still a few years away from production, but our brief first drive of the radical concept shows huge promise.
Oddly, the steering feels pretty good. We briefly wonder why, then remember Graham Wilkins has confirmed this car's use of double wishbone front suspension (deemed better for precision than MacPherson struts) because it allows the low bonnet line the designers seek, and the superior steering and ride the engineers know a compact Jaguar needs.
Now it's time to pull up and let the next bloke have his go. I doubt we have hit 65kph, and there is more chuntering from the brakes as we pull up. The ghostly rear-riding engineer again does his stuff with the Tommy-bar and all forward motion ceases. We alight, and because we're in a Jaguar with a feet-out driving position, I almost fall out of the car, forgetting that its H-point is a good 10cm higher than anything else the company makes.
Continued..
You can’t. Not yet, anyway. This short drive in an early prototype has been anything but a sustained drive, or even respectable progress, yet we have learned two important things from it.
Sitting in the driver's seat, enjoying its sight-lines and the view over the bonnet, I am left with absolutely no doubt that this crossover is on the way to becoming a distinguished production Jaguar.