Jaguar F-Type a pricey piece of road magic

Every day a guy in an Audi R8 drives by my house with the 100-mile stare on. But when I parked a Jaguar F-Type on the premises, he started giving me the thumbs up. From one babe to another.

Of the two, the F-Type is the more beautiful of the babes. Hands down. Stare at it all you want and a false move cannot be found. Every line must have been defended.

It’s a smooth stroke from front to back with the aerodynamic design looking as sleek as a dolphin. The long hood meets the raked windshield, rises over the roof and flows quickly down to the rear. It can because there is no back seat. No need to make room for annoying passengers who could disturb the precision styling of the F-Type.

Nearly every square inch of my test car was as black as cast iron – the rims, the side badging, the door handles and mirror. But even in this dour disguise, looking as stealth as a Navy Seal, the beauty could not be diminished.

While the packaging was perfect, there was something to stew about. I was about to test drive the four-cylinder model. Is it really legal for an F-Type to come without a V6 or better yet a V8?

Yes. And I shouldn’t have doubted the decision.

The four-cylinder, 2.0-litre turbocharged P300 model is more than fine, it’s fantastic. The engine produces 300 horsepower and with an eight-speed automatic transmission it seems like the happiest of marriages.

Downsizing the engine also shaved 52 kilograms of weight from the front end. Experts are pretty unanimous in saying that this lighter Jag is perfectly balanced. The power is lusty but never overwhelms the suspension capability of this rear-wheel driver.

I agree. The P300 felt more fun to drive, lighter, and more agile than past V6 versions I tested.

Of course, a four-cylinder will never sound as symphonic as a V6 or V8, but the maestros at Jaguar have tuned the exhaust to mask that deficiency.

So with those worries disposed of, we can enjoy this pricey piece of road magic. The P300 Coupe starts at $69,500. With assorted options, including a panoramic sun roof, upgraded sound and bigger rims, the total price was closer to $80,000.

Is it worth it? Yes. I’ve driven some humdrum $80,000 cars; the F-Type is transcendent.

Put it in the Dynamic driving mode and open the gate. It purrs, it gurgles, it’s fast, the steering is sublime, brakes are nailed down, and cornering is flat. So it’s race ready, but it still manages to be livable in ugly city driving. Over potholes, stuck in stop-and-go, slinging mud at the mall, nothing makes you wish to be leaping into an Audi. And the turning radius is tight; you can spin the F-Type around a manhole cover if you need to switch directions.

The cabin is all business, nicely appointed, but not festooned with distractions. On the centre console a small screen displays infotainment features, three big dials control heat and AC, a dial turns up audio, and an all-important toggle switch launches Dynamic driving mode, or settings for slippery driving conditions.

Like the exterior, most everything was black inside too. The contoured and comfortable leather seats were finished with red stitching and just a bit of brushed aluminum highlighted the shifter.

Visibility was pretty good for such a low seating position with backup cameras helping in tight spots. The view rearward is through a slit-sized window, and forward, the sun visors are the size of flyswatters, but somehow it all works.

Travel light, however – bins are small and few for personal items, and the trunk is shallow and narrow.

But this is a vehicle that makes you forget about baggage, the real kind and the mental kind. It’s a car for sunset drives, and escape from the ordinary. Just bathe in the beauty and wave back at the guy in the R8.