I was captivated by an F-type a long time ago and my passion for Jaguars had begun even earlier. I will never forget the moment I saw the utterly sexy rear of a white Jaguar XF which was twinkling in the flow ahead of me. There were not so many of them at that time and these cars stood out of traffic like a British queen stands out a crowd.
It was the beginning of my love story with these English cars and then last year an F-Type Convertible arrived in Moscow. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to take part in the field tests so I just had to be grateful for small favours — runs held at the Luzhniki stadium. And it wasn’t that bad actually, as Luzhniki hosted several rounds of the Russian Touring Championship in case you didn’t know. So we also had a piece of it.
Yet, in spite of all my enthusiasm, the convertible lacked something. It just seemed there was one small feature missing to make this car perfect. And that feature was added and the name of it is “hard top”.
Jaguar F-Type Coupé made its first appearance in the beginning of 2014. The kitties were a success — it’s difficult to imagine a more harmonious car and when you get inside you can know for sure that happiness exists. Though this happiness is rather gluttonous...
Happiness with the “F-Type” codename has a hefty fuel consumption rate and the official numbers do not quite correspond with reality and first of all it concerns those who like to push the pedal down. Yet, I doubt that the person who considers buying a car like that bothers about the fuel consumption. And especially when it comes to the R version fitted with the 5-litre engine delivering 550 hp. The appetite of the Supercharged is more than decent, however, you do gain a lot in return. Sprint to 100 km/h takes just 4.1 seconds which can be expressed in a short “Yippee!” exclamation.
But with all that the F-Type Coupé feels like wearing comfortable seven-league boots — it’s not rubbing or pinching anywhere but fits the body perfectly imparting acceleration with a tangible kick in the bottom. It is so comfortable that it feels like it was created to fit my size — this car is a perfect match, you can feel its dimensions instantly even in a right-hand drive car. The front and rear parts of the car are just the size they should be; and everything is at hand inside, just where it is comfortable. And it’s not just about my positive prejudice towards Jaguars, other test-drive participants have come to the same conclusions.
But this comfort has some animal feature — it does not soothe you to sleep and does not make you relax. All the time you are behind the wheel, you can feel the power of this car with every cell of your body. And what is great, you don’t have to restrain it. It’s a tamed wild cat ready to give you pleasure.
The F-Type R had to go through two major tests. One was held near Alcañiz, Spain and was 5.344 km long. For those who didn’t know or did not guess, I’m referring to the MotorLand Aragón. The second test was held nearby on a section of the serpentine road used for local rally competitions.
In addition to the racing track with a fabulous 1,700-m straight section, Aragon circuit also features a special constantly moisturised track aimed to test cars under different weather conditions.
But there was no need for a track like that in our case as right in the middle of the briefing the MotorLand was covered by a real summer storm with thunder and lightning and we completed the test on the spot.
Each test-drive participant was accompanied by an instructor — it was a mandatory requirement or otherwise you couldn’t even enter the track. I was really lucky to get Chris as my instructor — I just love people who keep shouting “Push the pedal down!” at the speed of 250 km/h in the last section of the straight line. I do understand, this number wouldn’t impress any of the Moscow Unlim 500+ participants, but we accelerated up to 264 km/h conditioned we didn’t have any time for braking after hitting the redline and that’s why we had to start doing that in advance. Speedometer is limited to 300 km/h making 264 km/h look quite decent.
The car gives really bright emotions on the track. At first it seems you go too fast and there’s a feeling you might lose control and send the car skidding or, which is even worse, go off the track. But each new lap gives you a feeling that the F-Type has a greater potential that you could ever imagine.
First on demand of the instructor and then at your own wish you increase the speed when going into corners, the brake pedal is involved less and less often, and the main thing you don’t have to be at pains to make the car respond to your inputs — sometimes it felt like the F-Type was foreseeing my wishes and by the time I wanted to set the right angle it had already calculated all possibilities and chosen the only right decision.
During the sighting laps with Chris behind the wheel the car lost traction several times for a second on the wet track (it dried up in the course of the tests) but my instructor could capture it immediately and we rushed forward. I was really surprised when he said that he did not put a single effort in that and the car was doing everything on its own! On one hand, those who prefer correcting mistakes on their own might not like this feature, but the Jaguar F-Type is not a race car but a car to enjoy and it surely brings you a lot of pleasure. I haven’t met such a stable, manageable, comfortable and yet a joyful car for a long time already.
Though I didn’t want to go deep into technical specifications, I still have to say a few words. When designing and building the car, the company’s engineers applied several technologies which make it manageable and safe on the track. A second-generation Electronic Active Differential (EAD) spreads the torque between the rear wheels. It makes the car stable at high speeds without any feeling of losing control or traction. Another technology used is the system of Torque Vectoring by Braking which provides assistance to the work of the differential and helps in corners and curves. And finally, the suspension control systems comprising Adaptive Dynamics and Engaging Dynamics technologies which keep the vehicle flat, monitor the deflection rate and provide body motion control.
Thanks to these technologies the car can boast of crisp, precise and safe handling. I think that it’s just impossible to get into an accident when driving this car due it its keen self-preservation instinct.
The mountain serpentine road brought as much joy as the racing track. Accelerating, braking and accelerating again, curves giving place to straight sections, and then all those cars in the flow which just had to be overtaken in spite of the oncoming vehicles — that was pure adrenaline! Frankly speaking, due to that “struggle” on the serpentine road, driving in the mountains was much more fascinating than practical exercises on the track. We are always looking for challenges behind the wheel of a sports car.
In some moment, when we were setting off one by one after a short briefing with the instructor, I remembered the European rally we had in the Alpine roads when I was driving a wonderful customised 1971 Jaguar E-Type fitted with an antiroll cage. It was the moment when I felt that succession of generations between those two cars. The only difference lies in the amount and availability of new technologies. An E-Type is a totally honest vehicle which interacts with your on equal terms and its reactions are based only on your personal knowledge and skills. While an F-Type looks more like an elder brother who corrects all your faults and mistakes without appearing to do so.
Interesting to know that the manufacturers don’t really favour this succession — they do agree that the E-Type has always been and will always remain a beautiful and charismatic car but they also claim that the F-Type is unattainably more advanced. But in my opinion, it’s impossible to compare these two vehicles, maybe just from the point of view of the beauty of their bodies with short rear part and elongated nose. You cannot define a winner here, like you cannot say who painted more beautiful women — Botticelli who lived in the 15th century, or Renoir from the 19th century…
