Fire up Your Engines

Jaguar’s F-TYPE, is a machine you can’t help but want to drive. And drive hard. Here, we are going to focus on the Convertible version.

On first impressions, the car looks poised and ready, even when it’s standing still. ‘Drive me’, it seems to say as you approach the door and the handle springs out to greet you. ‘Start me’ it seems to shout, once you’re in the figure- hugging sports seats. ‘Rev me’, it seems to insist, as you fire the engine and a spectacular set of aural fireworks begin.

It’s certainly very driver-orientated, with those in the front seats separated by a prominent grab handle, which sweeps down and behind a joystick-shaped, SportShift gear selector. This is clearly part of Jaguar’s determination to create something very different; an intimate place, where luxury is not allowed to supersede purpose. The roof is a multi-layered fabric affair, with a thick Thinsulate lining, that raises or lowers in just twelve seconds, at speeds of up to 30mph.

Even in the entry-level 340PS V6 model, sixty from rest takes just 5.1 seconds, en route to 161mph. Further up the range, where a Dynamic Launch Mode is standard, the V6S model powers to sixty in just 4.8 seconds on the way to 171mph. Fast enough for anyone, you would have thought, though not for the folk who’ll settle for nothing less than the 495PS V8 version, which is good for sixty in 4.2 seconds, on the way to 186mph. Overtaking in this variant will be instant, with 50-75mph taking just 2.5 seconds.

But making this car fast, was a very small part of making it great. This is a machine that steers, handles, stops, goes - and sounds - exactly as a Jaguar should