Can you have a 'Jaguar driving experience' in a diesel powered car? The short answer is 'yes', at least from next September. Because that's when a diesel-engined X-Type comes on the market, and after a brief enough drive in a pre-production model in Germany, I'm impressed.

And I'm not the only one: a number of colleagues on the same, very short, introduction to the car, left the Nurburgring area feeling very positive indeed about the first-ever diesel Jaguar.

The Ford-owned company makes no bones about it: this is essentially a Mondeo 2.0s-litre TDCi, but tweaked and twiddled to provide the refinement and driving appeal that underpins the Jaguar ethos.

Much of what was involved was electronic, as the basic engine itself is already considered a very good one. The engine management system was remapped to change the characteristics a little. The idea was mainly to deal with any noise, but also to spread the torque somewhat, so that there's no brash jump when the turbo cuts in.

There has also been a strong effort in soundproofing. And it has worked. Bluntly, it just doesn't sound like a diesel much, even standing outside the car. This is refinement with a capital R. The Jaguar people responsible told us that they'd lopped more than 30 dB from the noise level of the engine, which is impressive by anyone's standards.

The knocking sound that generally betrays an oilburner under one's bonnet has been all but eliminated, by the use of a sensor that listens for it beginning to happen and then changes stuff like individual fuel injection to stop it. All without, they say, affecting the performance of the engine.

There was a bit of shifting done in the engine compartment to make the power unit fit, but not a lot, since the X-Type's platform is based on that used by the Mondeo anyway.

And there wasn't much that required changing to cope with the weight of the engine, because it is in or around the same weight as the entry-level 2.1-litre V6 petrol unit.

As an aside, Jaguar have been building up to this one cleverly. First, because the X-Type couldn't be a traditional sporty rear-wheel-drive car without the expense of a brand new platform, they launched the car with 4WD. Then they later slipped in the 2-litre engine, using FWD, and we all found that it worked very well thank you. Now they've finally got their diesel - really important in a Europe where diesel is king in the luxury segment - and, of course, we're already used to it in FWD.

The engineering guys say there 'are no plans' for a 4WD diesel in this model. But come back to this space in a couple of years when, inevitably, they add the upcoming 2.7-litre V6 diesel developed with PSA Peugeot-Citroen and due to be rolled out in the S-Type next summer.

Anyway, back to the 2-litre. And how it performs.

Which is very well.

We had a great mixture of roads on the 150-kilometre run, in the rolling downs around the Nurburgring race track - where Jaguar have also just opened a state of the art vehicle test centre. There was motorway, limit-free in Germany, and there were long looping roads with great surfaces and high-visibility sequences of curves. And, of course, the 50 km/h limits in splendid small villages. So there was every opportunity to investigate this particular X File.

With a 0 -100 km/h of under 10 seconds, this car was clearly not going to be a slouch. But it also does its business without effort, because with full pulling power coming in at a mere 1800 rpm, everything proceeds without any sound or fury.

A very respectable 330 Nm of torque is normal and you can even 'overboost' it to get 350 Nm in what Ford and Jaguar describe as 'transient' situations. It will only last for a few seconds, but that can be the edge you need in a tight overtaking situation.

The engine will rev freely, but there's really no point overdoing it, because when the torque reaches the edge of its plateau it falls steeply. But by golly, when you play within the power band, you can have a lot of fun. Fourth gear is particularly useful, with a wide spread of speed available. But even overtaking in top is the kind of thing you can do without suffering palpitations. Your credit card won't be suffering either, since this is a 50 mpg-plus X-Type.

The car I drove had the Sport specification, which includes a somewhat harder suspension setting. It's not fair, really, from such a short acquaintance, but I felt I'd like it a bit harder, especially at high speed on long curving autobahns. Still, that won't matter much in Ireland.

And I suspect too that there will be a demand to provide a 6-speed gearbox in some markets, but the 5-speed standard unit works quite fine. It is a nice shifter too.

Since they were adding the new engine for the 2004 model year anyway, Jaguar took the opportunity to add some interior improvements, including more clear instrument graphics. A few new trim options include Alcantara suede, which adds to a more 'techie' look. And a fluorescent blue colour which was used in limited edition last year is now available across the range 'because of its popularity'.

It takes a certain type, I suppose ...

This X-Type will appeal to all but the most adamant petrolhead. A group who will soon feel outnumbered, as Jaguar anticipates that in the fullness of time, 70 per cent of X-Types will be diesel powered.