Currently reading: Jaguar F-Type - first ride impressions
We’ve been talking about the F-type for years. Now, finally, we can sample it. Steve Cropley rides with Jaguar's chassis guru Mike Cross in Wales

For two decades we’ve been hearing about ‘Jaguar’s new E-type’; finally, here we are, ready to ride in the much talked about Jaguar F-type alongside the firm’s chassis guru Mike Cross.

Jaguar has brought a V6S prototype, the 375bhp supercharged 3.0-litre version that puts its distinctly healthy 339lb ft of torque through the eight-speed ‘Quickshift’ auto with paddles that Jaguar has developed with ZF, the ideal transmission for a car of this size, weight and potential.

The F-type door opens conveniently wide, but because this is a convertible you have to lift your right foot a little higher than usual over the bulky, strength-giving aluminium sill as you get in. The footwell is long and deep, and your hip point is just about level with the top of the sill, which means that you sit snug and low in the car. The main bulk of the fascia curves extravagantly away from you to the base of the screen.

Video: Riding in the Jaguar F-type

There’s a large central binnacle, containing two air vents, that powers out of the top of the dashboard to provide extra heating or cooling when needed. Below that is a prominent touchscreen; lower down sit a row of three circular switches to control the climate, and below those a smart-looking row of modern-design toggle switches. The main driver’s instruments are a pair of big digital dials located under a glare-proof eyebrow. It’s all neat and leaves a pervading aura of quality, but there are no real surprises.

You sit low and the fascia is quite high, but you still plainly see the power bulge that runs down the central bonnet, and there’s a satisfying view of a muscular front wing to either side. The screen pillars are as thick as in any modern car, but their extreme rake and considerable distance from you means that they don’t intrude. The passenger experience is made better by the presence on the left of the high central console of a ‘holy cow' handle, which gives the passenger area a snug, tub-like feel.

There’s a handsome gearstick in the centre of the console, which selects your direction of travel and can be used as a rocking gear selector, but the reality is that you only use it to get off the mark. The steering column paddles best control the gearbox’s action and – given the power and torque – the car is lively in any of its modes.

Jaguar’s figures give the V6S a 0-60mph sprint time of 4.8sec and a 171mph top speed (with a CO2 output of 213g/km and a combined fuel economy of 31mpg thrown in) and nothing about my day with Cross induced me to disagree.

This V6 has a higher specific power than previous Jaguar engines, and a ‘modern’ engine note to go with it. It’s mechanically quiet, not least because there’s a big, sound-absorbing noise protector right across the top of the engine bay, but the exhaust has a prominent, surprisingly edgy rasp that curls up to your ears over the rear deck.

Back to top

Toe the accelerator lightly (says Cross) and the car eases away with the aplomb of a limo. Do it more dramatically and you’re forced instantly, although never roughly, back into the upholstery.

Video: See and hear the Jaguar F-type on the road

Rear suspension squat is hardly a factor, even though your backside is only a couple of feet ahead of the rear contact patch. You can select a Dynamic mode for auto-shifting, which uses more revs, or actuate the paddles yourself but, according to Cross, most drivers opt mainly for the auto-shifting, using the paddles strictly when they feel like it.

As you’d expect from a smooth, supercharged engine, the V6 delivers easy torque right from the ground floor of its rev range, and could probably live its whole life below 3500rpm. On the other hand, the red line is at 6700rpm; this is a proper sports car and the power grows all the way to the rev-limiter.

I’m only the passenger here but I can see, just by watching Cross’s hands, that the transmission is silky and downchanges are beautifully smooth. There’s no question of the delays that used to affect set-ups like this.

Then there’s the chassis. Even on lumpy, rutted, unpredictable surfaces, taken quickly, its excellence impresses. The F-type makes a constant virtue of its near-perfect weight distribution by avoiding pitching completely. According to Cross, Jaguar’s suspension experts have also managed to configure the car so that it turns as if you, the occupant, are the centre of the movement, an ability that usually eludes even the best mid-engined car.

Tamed in all driving conditions by its adaptive dampers, the F-type V6’s ride is always firm, but the rigidity of its all-aluminium chassis and the surprising quietness about its suspension even over bumps (which the V6S ‘reads’ through standard 19-inch Pirelli P-Zeros) make this feel a tautly damped, flat-riding machine.

The F-type has the soul of a responsive, agile sports car. The surprise is how well it copes with the most untidy, aggressive bumps and never, ever running out of suspension travel.

Back to top

The steering is the highest-geared system ever put in a Jaguar, and I can only read its characteristics through Cross’s hand actions, which is like trying to decide whether a scalpel is any good when wielded by the country’s best heart surgeon. But he says it hits new heights, and I’m taking that on trust (while busting to try it myself).

Autocar’s next F-type episode will be a proper test drive so stand by for stories and video tests in mid-April – at which stage I’ll be as interested as anyone to discover whether my hugely favourably initial impressions of Jaguar’s new sports car can move faithfully from one bucket seat to the other.

The full story of Steve Cropley’s F-type ride, plus Martin Brundle’s view from the driving seat, and a review of what F-Type alternatives are available on the used market, and at any budget, is available in this Wednesday’s Autocar magazine.

Steve Cropley

Steve Cropley Autocar
Title: Editor-in-chief

Steve Cropley is the oldest of Autocar’s editorial team, or the most experienced if you want to be polite about it. He joined over 30 years ago, and has driven many cars and interviewed many people in half a century in the business. 

Cropley, who regards himself as the magazine’s “long stop”, has seen many changes since Autocar was a print-only affair, but claims that in such a fast moving environment he has little appetite for looking back. 

He has been surprised and delighted by the generous reception afforded the My Week In Cars podcast he makes with long suffering colleague Matt Prior, and calls it the most enjoyable part of his working week.

Join the debate

Comments
26
Add a comment…
bomb 4 February 2013

-

It'll be lovely to drive which means Autocar will put if ahead of everything else. Nothing really wrong with that but the high price seems to have been completely ignored in this grilling. I believe you'd be able to have as much fun for less elsewhere.

The back end is nice, the front is a bit non-descript and the interior could be from anything but a Jag. £58,500 is way too much for a starting point.

vinylnutter 4 February 2013

Too Pricey.

Much too expensive starting point. Comparable to Boxster, and Porsche is arguably a more premium brand than Jaguar, and yet approx £15000 more costly with a similarly mercenary approach to options pricing as the germans. If it had been priced on  par with the Boxster they would have a real hit on their hands. Looks like someone in marketing has chosen margin over volume, odd considering they need to increase their numbers badly to remain viable.

 

redheadmarshal 4 February 2013

Quick off the mark

This just sums it up nicely

http://sniffpetrol.com/category/picturenews/

Amazing how Jaguar are stretching out the launch period of the F-Type; maybe they're hoping that by the time it eventually reaches market, wage inflation will mean that people don't see it as massively expensive.  People calling this the new E-Type need to remember that the E-Type was priced way below vehicles of similar or even lesser performance  - Jaguar have missed a trick here by not offering a more affordable sportscar, which would increase accessibility of the brand and help lower the age profile of their customer base

 

Ming 4 February 2013

That rear end screams BMW Z8!

Hi, i cannot help it but register and log in just to say this... that rear end looks like it's BMW Z8 inspired. I like the Z8. I hated the fact that they didn't make RHD Z8s.

 

Ming,

Singapore