Hefty Jag gets its claws out
The most powerful F-Type you can buy is ferociously fast and an exciting thing, but does it need to be, wonders Damien O’Carroll.
Although I would normally argue strenuously that any sporting Jaguar is immediately better with a sixcylinder engine up front driving the rear wheels (history and heritage, old chap. It’s just the proper engine in the proper place), it is extremely hard to make that argument hold up convincingly in the face of the blisteringly powerful supercharged V8 AWD F-Type P575 R.
Yep, that’s right, it’s an AWD Jaguar sports car with that big, characterful blown 5.0-litre AJ-V8 engine that was endangered (as Ford announced it would stop building it for Jaguar) before being handed a reprieve (when Jaguar announced it would just keep building it itself for a while). It will now continue to supply silly amounts of power (in this case 423kW of it, along with a hefty 700Nm of torque) to Jaguars and Land Rovers for another three to five years.
And that is a good thing, because it is a fantastic engine, albeit one that has been significantly reined in, aurally at least. That’s right – it’s significantly quieter than it has been in previous vehicles to pack it, thanks to the latest European noise restrictions that seem to be about ruining fun.
That said, previous F-Type Rs and SVRs were almost antisocially loud, so being quieter than them doesn’t exactly mean the P575 R has been muted. Or Neutered.
It still packs a beefy, barrelchested bellow that builds up to a satisfyingly hard roar above around 3500rpm where the maximum torque is kicking in.
All of this happens rather quickly, too. Jaguar’s claim of a scramble to 100kmh from a standing start in just 3.7 seconds is accurate, but it doesn’t fully describe just how ferociously fast the P575 R actually is.
While the slick RWD-biased AWD system hooks the traction up impressively quickly, it is when you have some forward momentum that the speed truly shows, piling aggressively on as that addictive bellow hardens and rises. This is a car that you just want to keep you foot on the pedal a bit longer every time.
But that really isn’t advisable, as the rate that this bad cat piles on speed when it has its claws fully extended is undeniably thrilling, but will quickly get you into trouble . . .
Nailing the throttle leaves you in no doubt that, despite the P575 R being AWD, the engine points in the right direction and puts most of its emphasis into the proper wheels – the ones at the back.
The AWD is really just there to tame the stubby wheelbase and keep things pointing in the right direction in slippery situations, and dropping the power out of a corner still gives you a lovely RWD feel in normal situations, with even a cheeky little wiggle from the rear if you are feeling playful.
But you still probably don’t want to get too playful with it, because the P575 R is a bit of a hefty beast, clocking in at 1818kg, or around 200kg heavier than the rest of the RWD F-Type range.
It all feels very well controlled and predictable – and more than a little naughty – but the weight is there and you can feel it shifting, so you never want to go charging into a corner too hard.
The F-Type range got a refresh for this year and, of course, the P575 R benefits from that with the new squinty-eyed face giving it a sleeker, more aggressive look, but perhaps at the expense of making it look a tad more generic than the previous distinctive look.
It still looks damn good, however, as does the interior, which is still impressively high quality, even it if is starting to date a bit in a visual sense.
Despite the update there are still reminders that the F-Type is getting on a bit.
The absence of things like a head-up display, the inclusion of JLR’s elderly and deeply frustrating infotainment system and the total omission (even as an option) of adaptive cruise control are the most glaring hints of its true age.
And those omissions are glaring, because the P575 R certainly isn’t cheap – at $214,900 it is beginning to approach entry level Porsche 911 territory (which still doesn’t offer all that much tech fruit in the base car, but at least makes them available options), which leaves it in an odd middle ground with little in the way of direct competition, and certainly nothing that offers the same prodigious power and AWD tenacity.
Still, the biggest argument against the P575 R comes from within the F-Type lineup – the RWD P380 R-Dynamic is powered by a supercharged 3.0-litre V6, and while it ‘‘only’’ packs 280kW and 460Nm is just over a second slower to 100kmh than the P575 R, sounds damn good and, yeah, that whole RWD/six-cylinder Jaaaaag thing does just seem more right.
But although the P575 R’s relentless acceleration and tenacious grip may make that a harder argument to swallow, there is one other factor that may tip you back in the more traditional RWD/six-cylinder direction – at $164,900 the P380 is a hefty $50,000 cheaper than the P575 R.
The P575 R is properly fast, genuinely exciting and incredibly capable, but for $50k less, the P380 is lighter, purer and a more traditional Jaaaaag. Good to have the choice, I guess, but I would find it particularly hard to not just pocket the $50k and tell myself I was keeping the proper spirit of Jaguar alive.