It's already seven years ago since I did the dynamic introduction of the F-Type. A car lots of people looked forward to.
It had a great design, inspired by the illustrous E-Type. But the years followed, and the F-Type didn't seem to be the success Jaguar hoped it would be.
A lot of XK-drivers, a car which the F-Type was meant to succeed, thought it was too much of a sports car.
Whilst the XK was a GT-car. And that could be the reason Jaguar waited for so long to release a facelift. Seven years is very long for...
a life cycle. But here it is: the updated F-Type. The nose is clearly different, and it's matter of taste. I thought the previous nose looked better.
It was much more of an F-Type, now it looks more like the rest of the Jaguars. The headlights even remind me of the Hyundai Kona.
But that's personal. If we look at the range, there are some differences as well. The V6 isn't available anymore.
That's because Jaguar has a new straight-six for their cars and Land Rovers and such.
You'd expect that in this range, but they've removed the 6-cylinder engines as a whole. Instead, you can now get a turbocharged P300...
4-cylinder, producing 300 horsepower. Next to that, you've got the P450 with a supercharged V8 producing 450 horsepower.
That's less than it used to produce as a regular V8. Remarkably, this R produces 575 horsepower. The same power output as the previous...
SVR. This also has four-wheel drive. Also, it's a tad cheaper. The SVR was more than €200.000, whilst this 'only' costs €180.000.
And there isn't a SVR, yet. If you ask Jaguar, they don't want to talk about that. That means they haven't decided yet.
Still, there's some hope for a 600+ horsepower-version. For now though, we're driving the current top of the range model with 575 horsepower.
And there's a big problem with this car, and that's that I've already driven the P450 and P300 as well.
And this really is the one you want. And it sounds like a stupid advice to always get the most expensive version.
But the difference in this is that the F-Type is a very good car with its own personality, but it isn't without flaws.
Especially the P300 and P450, there's too much instability in the ride.
And it kind of kills the experience. Not that it's not a fun car to drive, but it's operating in a segment where you also have the 911. Or the AMG-GT,
or even an Audi R8. Those cars offer more refinement in the drive. However, if you get this V8, all of those things don't matter anymore.
It adds so much joy and personality to this car. You'll think 'this is it', it gives you such a hotrod-feeling because of the ancient Jaguar-V8.
The crackles, the high-rev screams, that's what makes this car. The 4-cylinder doesn't have that, so other flaws start standing out.
That's the difference with a 4-cylinder Cayman. You do miss the bigger engine, but the car itself offers enough driving pleasure.
The F-Type just doesn't have that edge.
So it's actually kind of sad the 6-cylinder isn't available anymore, because that had some personality whilst costing a lot less.
If we look beyond the exterior changes and the engine range, Jaguar has applied some changes. Most of which are SVR-features...
now applied on the R. So the R drives a lot better than the P450 with the same downtuned V8, which'll make you wonder why you...
even would consider the P450. Of course, that has rear-wheel drive and this has 4-wheel drive. However, most of the power is sent to the back.
You're pushing the rear around a lot and you're able to throw the back around. It won't cancel out any of the fun.
It's not a bad idea to distribute all of those 700 Nm's across all four wheels.
The steering has been improved as well. They've added more feeling to the steering rack, but in the R it's even better.
In a way that makes me think 'why don't you put this steering in the P450 as well', because it'd make it better.
You do notice there's much more calmth aboard here. More feeling in the steering, which ables you to position it better.
That means, the drive is better. Funny enough, the R feels safer at higher speeds than slower cars.
Because there's more stability in the body, or so it feels.
The F-Type has some time to go, and with the V8 they've made sure it'll remain a true remarkable car.
It hasn't sold in huge numbers, so it could be a classic one day, but it certainly will be car which'll find its space in the market.
The 4-cylinder would be the most profitable engine in the Netherlands, but I don't think that engine deserves to be connected to...
the beauty that's called 'F-Type'.