One of a dying breed, apparently. After nearly 10 years on sale (a lifetime and a half in car years) the Jaguar F-Type has arrived at its last dance: the special edition to celebrate 75 years of Jag’s sports cars, revealed in October 2022, will be the final act. Then that’s it. Finito. Kaput. The end.
In truth the F-Type has done well to last this long, last getting a significant update late in 2019. You’ve probably spied the squinting headlights already, and if the bottom half of the internet is any kind of barometer, you might not like them very much. But please, reserve full judgement until you’ve seen one of these in person. This remains a wildly good-looking car in both coupe and convertible shapes, and the rest of its styling has largely been left well alone. Wise.
Tell me about the engines.
You’re in for a treat, as the F-Type’s big attraction sits a few feet back from those lights. There used to lie a V6 engine, but it’s gone – in the UK market at least – replaced by a new tune of supercharged V8. Yep, Jaguar bucked all current motor industry trends and upsized the mid-range F-Type’s engine. Whatever will the climate change protestors think?
At least they’ll be marginally appeased by the ongoing existence of the entry-level four-cylinder F-Type ‘P300’, whose 296bhp 2.0-litre turbo engine continues untouched. A couple of years back it garnered 42 per cent of F-Type sales, but Jag shook up the status quo with the arrival of the 444bhp 5.0-litre V8 ‘P450’. As you do.
Sitting atop the line-up is the also-V8 567bhp F-Type R ‘P575’, which is the range halo now that the wild SVR has long gone off sale. But not before donating its engine tune and suspension components to the R.
Wicked. Although I hear it’s auto only now…
Afraid so. An eight-speed automatic transmission is all you’re getting these days, with the F-Type manual dropped from sale in 2019 after a mere seven were sold. Sad, but we’ll cope: the ZF-derived paddleshifter is superb and was always our favourite anyway.
The P300 and P450 are rear-driven as standard, the latter getting all-wheel drive as an upgrade if you’re willing to part with another £6k, give or take a few bob. Meanwhile the P575 R is AWD only.
The F-Type’s most recent update also saw some tweaks inside, with an updated media system and new, fully digital instrument display that cycles between single and double dials or a big widescreen map just like the one Audi pioneered six years ago with the TT’s Virtual Cockpit.
And the price of all this is…?
Prices start at £62,235 for the coupe and £67,825 for the convertible, topping out at £108,065 for a drop-top F-Type R. So once again, the F-Type lives in a curious middle ground slap-bang between both Porsche Caymans and 911s, seemingly a rival to both with a broad spread of power outputs. It’s got the Alpine A110 and Toyota Supra to fret about these days too.
Will there be another F-Type SVR, to bait the next 911 Turbo or GT3? “SVO are continually committed to amplifying performance attributes and bringing more SV vehicles to market in the future,” was the official company line a couple of years back. Doesn’t look like that branch will bear fruit before the tree is chopped down, however. Pity.
Our choice from the range
Jaguar
5.0 P450 Supercharged V8 R-Dynamic 2dr Auto
£72,070
What's the verdict?
“The F-Type has been a great sports car for nearly a decade now, albeit in its own little segment”
The F-Type is a great sports car. It has been for nearly a decade now. Great if you relish a mildly brutish coupe or cabrio with a large engine up front, less good if you want something stuffed to the gunwales with technology.
It continues to sit in its own little segment, though, priced between Caymans and 911s while doggedly offering something a little different to both. And with neater, more trustworthy handling than ever, a charismatic V8 engine and a sheen of extra modernity inside, it’s not much harder to recommend than it was back in 2013. Whatever you think of those headlights.
Porsche 911
£148,960 – £170,410
Toyota Supra
£45,400 – £53,495
Alpine A110
£47,545 – £69,615
Continue reading: Driving
Driving
What is it like to drive?
Doesn’t feel like a 10-year-old car, that’s for sure. We did worry that the arrival of the V8-powered P450, replacing both V6-powered P340 and P380 versions of old, would change the F-Type’s character for the worse. Especially given the latter was the absolute sweet spot of the range, with way more personality than the company-car-special four-cylinder, and little of the unhinged madness of the larger V8.
In short, it absolutely nailed it. It feels nowhere near the 123bhp deficit on the F-Type R above it, makes nearly as much naughty V8 noise on full throttle, but is still civilised at low speed and on start-up. You can thank a neighbour-friendly ‘quiet mode’ on the exhaust for that.
It drives in a courteous manner, too. Back in 2013, the F-Type arrived from a cloud of tyre smoke, feeling madly exciting but a little TVR-ish when the weather was bad or you turned your attention for a second on a twisty road. Incremental improvements from JLR’s annual model year updates tidied things up a bit, with a few chassis tweaks arriving in 2020 too. We ended up with a car that isn’t night-and-day different to those before it, just classier. Better.
So what’s best, RWD or AWD?
We’d advise sticking to the standard RWD on the P450 V8 and saving both money and weight. AWD is no longer needed to keep things in check. Mind, it does make the more powerful F-Type R uncommonly neat to drive for a car so powerful, with its mischievous side only revealed at the driver’s behest.
A halfway house stability control mode gives you more than enough high jinks on the road and this remains a car of huge heart and humour. Just one that’s almost £30k more than the very-nearly-as-good P450.
And what of the cheapest, the P300?
It’s actually the neatest and lightest F-Type to drive, in objective terms, but even though its 2.0-litre engine is refined and pretty strong, it simply can’t live up to its surrounding cast members. You can drive the entry-level F-Type with the commitment of a hardcore hot hatch, but it’s never a truly dazzling sports car. A fine option if you love the looks and its friendlier CO2 figure allows it to slot into your life in a way that quicker, pricier Fs won’t, however.
Problems are few, but given the most recent update was a heavy facelift rather than a brand new car, the F-Type’s mass and girth still continue to rankle when the vast majority of its rivals are lighter and narrower. Porsche 911s are big these days, but will still slink through traffic and up narrow lanes with less fuss than the Jag.
Jaguar F-Type review: Heritage 60 Edition driven
£123,015
Jaguar F-Type R review: £100k sports car tested
£100,230
Jaguar F-Type P450 review: new V8 roadster driven
£73,600
Previous: Overview
Continue reading: Interior
Interior
What is it like on the inside?
So the F-Type is wide, but it’s not especially cavernous inside to compensate. It never has been. And in truth, the tweaks feel lighter in here than on the outside.
Which we mostly rather like. We wouldn’t have bet a single pound on the interior ageing one iota as well as it has done, such were the flourishes applied to it when new. And yet it’s not dated at all in here, the joystick controller and toggle switches still fun to use and those ongoing model year changes meaning the media system is as modern as can be. And crucially, it speaks easily to all mainstream smartphones via Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. Result.
Jaguar even went to the trouble of adding new digital instruments with numerous levels of customisation. But as ever with these things, if you like to drive briskly then a traditional pair of circular dials – one for revs, one for speed – is still best, making the whole effort seem a little in vain.
Upgrading from analogue makes switching between mph and kph simpler, though, so you can see why it probably helps cut costs when you’re trying to sustain sports cars in a tumultuous market. A movement we can all get behind.
Any elephants in the room? Perhaps just a baby one: we’re not convinced that JLR has nailed the F-Type from a build quality perspective. Even in 2023, a test car with only a few hundred miles on the clock developed an annoying rattle somewhere around the centre console. Meanwhile the glove box release button sounds cheap clunky; a panel above between the seats came away without much encouragement. Not a dealbreaker, but also not what you want to see on a car flirting with – or in some cases surpassing – a six-figure price tag. Some bigger storage cubbies wouldn’t go amiss either.
Oh, and the F-Type has always had infamously bad boot space – in convertible trim, chiefly – and a new set of lights, wheels and grilles can’t change that. So poke around one properly before buying, because it won’t swallow bags and cases with quite the aplomb of an equivalent Porsche. You’re looking at 132 litres in the drop-top, or a more respectable 336 in the coupe. Barely weekend away territory though, is it?
Previous: Driving
Continue reading: Buying
Buying
What should I be paying?
No question, the P300 – kicking things off at £62,235 for the coupe and £67,825 for the convertible – is the one to have if running costs are an issue, with Jag claiming 30.1 and 29.7mpg respectively. We would add that all variants of the F-Type post official fuel economy in the mid 20s anyway, so there’s not much in it. And the figures you’ll see in the real-world pinch that gap even more.
The P450 may be the range sweet spot and a surprising bargain (we’re using the word loosely here) at just under £80,000 for the coupe: only a Ford Mustang or Lexus RC F gets you in a V8 sports car for less, with the new Mercedes C63 having ditched eight cylinders as an option. But hey, you’re buying a sports car. Live a little. Prioritise such sensibleness only as much as you need to.
Finally you’ve got the top-of-the-range, AWD, V8-engined P575 F-Type R. There’s no way of sugar coating it: hard- and drop-tops are priced at £102,870 and £108,065 apiece before options. Still feel like playing fast and loose with your bank balance?
Both P450 and P575 engines are now additionally badged with the number 75 as part of Jaguar’s limited-edition send-off. With these you get the company’s adaptive dynamics system as standard, as well as rear knuckles made from aluminium die castings, larger wheel bearings and an active electronic rear differential. R 75s also get revised upper ball joints.
The 10-inch infotainment touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, DAB radio, sat nav and Bluetooth connectivity are all standard features, as are things like a reversing camera, traffic sign recognition, rain-sensing wipers and front and rear parking sensors. But bear in mind you’ll be paying extra for useful bits such as a heated windscreen, steering wheel and dual-zone climate control; all rolled into a climate pack for £685.
And while there’s a modicum of active safety equipment on offer, it’s an area the F-Type lags behind its rivals. There’s no active cruise control. You can’t even have a head-up display. Not big issues if you relish its old-school appeal, but it does distance the Jag just a little further from the competition as those technologies can be found in so many of its rivals.
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