Big cat a roaring success
THERE is no doubt that this week’s test car - the Jaguar F-Type S Coupe is absolutely fabulous to look at.
At the risk of antagonising the classic car community, dare I say it is almost as gorgeous as its illustrious forbear - the legendary E-Type.
Looked at from every angle the Jaguar Land Rover designers have really hit the spot and, unlike the E-Type, I think the coupe version is better looking than the convertible (and a few thousand pounds less too).
With more than a hint of baby Aston Martin, the F-Type drew lots of attention during my week behind the wheel - helped by the glorious roar which emits from its big twin centrally mounted active sports exhaust tailpipes.
And while £68,750 is a lot of cash, the F-Type can get the envious looks usually generated by cars costing tens of thousands more.
Even Mrs H was moved to make positive comments when the car arrived at Howarth Towers.
There are three engine options, a pair of V6 petrols with either 335bhp or 375bhp on the S (our test car) and a V8 - all of them supercharged.
And supercharged is how you feel when you are driving the F-Type, this really is a drivers car which makes any journey a joy. Even stuck in the usual M60 jams, you appreciate the purring big cat as other drivers look on through a green mist of envy.
You can choose your F-Type Coupe with two or four-wheel drive, but a manual gearbox (as fitted to our test car) is only available with the six-cylinder engine.
The F-Type S and V8 R models share adaptive dampers which give the best handling, as well as that electronically controlled active exhaust which boosts the snarling cat roar at the flick of a switch.
But no matter which one you choose the F-Type delivers the drive you expect from a true sports/GT car with handling, power and an impressive list of kit which was augmented with over £8,000 worth of extras on our test vehicle. This included a panoramic glass roof, power tailgate, heated sports seats, premium sound system, reversing camera, keyless entry and illuminated ‘Jaguar’ sill treadplates.
Standard kit on the F-Type S includes that switchable active sports exhaust, a dynamic sports mode, electric leather seats, cruise control, an 8” touch screen DAB audio/sat nav/info system, tyre pressure monitoring plus DSC, EBA, EBD and ABS and a neat pop up active spoiler which does its stuff at speeds above 60mph.
Performance figures on the Coupe S are 0 to 60 in 5.5 seconds and a top speed of 171mph while fuel consumption (something I doubt will trouble most owners) is 20.9 urban, 37.2 extra urban and 28.9 combined.
Going back to that price tag the F-Type starts from £51,775 and the standard S model £60,775, while you will have to part with over £88,000 for the Coupe V8 R which has a 5-litre supercharged V8 with over 540 bhp that sounds even more glorious and can reach 60mph in just 4.1 seconds.
And now there is an even more mental F-Type Coupe, the V8 SVR from Jaguar’s Special Vehicle Operations unit with 567bhp and 200mph performance plus a 0 to 60 time of just 3.5 seconds… but it costs almost twice the price of the basic car at £110,000.
And talking about price I would suggest that, for those who can afford it, the F-Type could be a good long-term investment.
Yours truly was offered a lovely red E-Type 12 years ago for £25,000, but I only had enough brownie points in the bank with ‘you know who’ to afford an Esprit Turbo at less than half that amount.
I know the guy who bought the 1967 roadster and it is now worth in excess of £125,000 while my much loved, if somewhat troublesome, Lotus has only increased in value by a few thousand pounds.
Oh well - hindsight is a marvellous thing.
More info at jaguarlandrover. com.