We need to be honest about something: Jaguar does seem to know what it wants to do. A recent report from Automotive News said the company had given up chasing the Germans. This is after spending $US700 ($898) million to upgrade facilities to do just that. Now the company wants to go eco and electrify its whole lineup by the end of this decade. The F-Type didn’t seem to get either memo, though, as engines for the coupe and convertible sports car are V8 only for the new model year.
The base I4 P300 and supercharged V6 R-Dynamic engines are axed. That V6 was no slouch. Granted it’s not a V8, but a supercharged V6 with 380 horsepower is still more than enough power for most people. Buyers should quickly forget about those engines as Jaguar has not only made the lineup V8 only, but you get a choice of two V8 engines.
The base F-Type is now called F-Type P450. This model gets powered by a supercharged 444-HP V8 with all 194 kg-ft of torque. As always, you can choose between rear- or all-wheel drive. Jaguar claims a 0 to 60 time of 4.4 seconds and 285 km/h top speed.
As always, the top trim is the R. That gets the 575 HP 5.0-litre supercharged V8. That extra 131 HP gets you a 0.9-second drop in the 0 to 60 time to 3.5 seconds and a near 306 km/h top speed.
Of course, these things aren’t cheap. The elimination of the I4 in the base car means an $US8,400 ($10,774) premium. It does come with new standard features like 12-way power seats on the AWD model and aluminium trim, but pricing is now $US69,900 ($89,654) for P450 rear-wheel drive. Add on a whopping $US10,000 ($12,826) if you want the AWD P450 R-Dynamic. The R starts at $US103,200 ($132,364).
