A couple of months ago I drove this car on the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi and it blew me away. I had never been a fan of Jaguar because, frankly, they descended into the slow lane of mediocrity and the spirit of the marque had faded away, but the F-Type has changed all that. It is seductively beautiful and mightily powerful.
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It was truly magnificent when unleashed on the racetrack but I wanted to see if it was just as impressive as an everyday car.
Some mentally fast performance cars, and this machine packs 542bhp and titanic proportions of torque at 680nm, are fine on the track but on the highway the temptation to go fast can be overwhelming and you can easily find yourself going from nought to goodbye driving licence in seconds.
The Jaguar F-Type R Coupe can be that beast if you have no self control but it also has an elegance about it that means it is just as comfortable cruising along well within the speed limit as it is screaming around the race circuit. The other important factor for an everyday sports car is that it is comfortable.
You don’t want to clamber out of the driving seat after a two or three hour drive having lost all feeling in the bottom half of your body. Again, this Jag, provides all the comfort and support you could ever wish for, whilst retaining its raw sporty appeal.
The pulling power of this car starts with the way it looks. In my humble opinion, it is the most beautiful Jaguar ever built and turns heads everywhere you go.
It is perfectly proportioned from every angle but the back, in particular, is spectacular with its nod to the E-Type of yesteryear and its quad exhaust pipes.
Sitting on optional 20-inch Storm Black and polished alloy wheels, you want to drive it as soon as you see it and that’s when the fun really begins.
It is built of aluminium which obviously makes this car very light whilst retaining the all-important rigidity and lurking under that gorgeous bonnet sits a 5-litre supercharged V8 which propels you from 0-100kmh in just 4.2 seconds and when you put this car into Dynamic mode the noise it makes while doing that is spellbinding.
It has a smile inducing roar as all that power is sent to the back wheels via an eight-speed close ratio quickshift automatic gearbox with a sequential manual option and when you lift off the active sports exhaust system it crackles and pops to add to what is a raw, totally engaging driving experience which has been sadly missing from Jaguars for far too long.
The handling is excellent, thanks to the bespoke suspension set-up and dynamic technologies, including second generation Electronic Active Differential and, for the first time in a Jag, Torque Vectoring which applies measured braking force to the inner wheels during cornering, maximising agility. You can also configure your own handling set up in Dynamic mode to add to the fun of driving this car.
As mentioned earlier, this is a very comfortable car to drive and the interior is totally driver-focused with performance seats embossed with the R logo and lashings of heavy stitched leather and dark technical weave aluminium trim. It is bristling with the latest automotive technology with the infotainment system operated via an eight-inch touch-screen.
The driving modes are operated via a switch on the centre-console but Dynamic is the only one really worth using.
The only slight grumble I have about the interior is that the steering wheel looks a little old-fashioned and could perhaps benefit from a redesign. Apart from that, this Jaguar is, in every way, the best car this company has every built which is why, if you want to buy one, you will have to join a waiting list. It really is that good and is my car of the year.
Verdict
The R is the mind-blowing top of the range model of the F-Type Coupe but there are two other models, the standard coupe and the superb V6 S which is not as mental as the R but is fast enough for most people and is not as expensive. Ultimately though, this is the daddy of them all and I find it almostimpossible to fault it.
