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Daily Mirror

Lifestyle

Colin Goodwin

Jaguar F-Type Coupe review: Jag gets everything right but the price

Jaguar tricked me once. It was 2013 and I was all set to order the new F-Type Roadster after it had been launched at the Paris motor show.

It looked fantastic and Mrs Goodwin, who’s always loved Jags, was fully behind the purchase.

Even better, I’d had a firm press release before the show saying if the E-Type, launched in 1961, was introduced today it would cost £38,000 allowing for inflation.

I took this as a hint the new car would be under 40 grand. And, with a PCP deal, in our reach.

Silly me.

Jaguar shafted that plan by throwing the sheets off the car to reveal a price tag of £58,500. Then to add salt to the wounds it launched a coupe version which I’ve always much preferred.

Seven years on, as I tested this new facelifted F-Type, it took me back and the hunger bit again.

But the cosmetic work is quite subtle (Handout)

The 2013 entry-level model was powered by a supercharged 3.0-litre V6 engine that produced 340bhp – but the top spec versions then used Jag’s 5.0-litre V8.

The car got a first facelift in 2017 when Jaguar also fitted a 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine for the first time.

Now the V6 has got the chop but the V8s with either 444bhp or 567bhp (both supercharged) are both still available.

As is the 296bhp 2.0-litre engine which is in the coupe we’re testing.

Even though a few things have changed (Handout)

At £54,060 it’s the cheapest F-Type you can buy.

And one of the nicest.

Of course you don’t get the V8 firepower or its car chase sound effects, but you do get a car quick enough for the road and cheaper to run and buy.

And one, thanks to a saving of 120kg, that handles better too.

The designers have taken a knife to the Jag’s front – but the cosmetic work is quite subtle even though a few things have changed.

At £54,060 it’s the cheapest F-Type you can buy (Western Morning News)

The bonnet is new and has more of a clamshell shape to its edges – and the headlamps are slimmer allowing a wider and deeper front intake.

The effect of the changes is to make the car look longer and wider even though it isn’t.

I adored the look of the original and I love this one too. It hasn’t been spoilt.

Inside, there’s not been a drastic change either. The 10in infotainment screen is Jaguar’s latest system and there’s a new 12.3in digital instrument cluster.

The infotainment system isn’t the easiest or clearest to use but at least you get old-fashioned knobs for adjusting heating and ventilation.

The interior quality is good enough for a £54k car, but you’d start to moan if you’d paid £97,280 for the top-of-the-range version.

Most of the hard plastics are hidden out of sight and certainly out of reach.

Our white test car is fitted with 12-way heated seats at an extra £1,340 which are supremely comfy.

But you can't help but fall in lose with these curves (Handout)

If I had a tenner for every car brochure that described the layout as ‘driver focused’ I’d have enough bread to buy this car.

In the Jaguar, that claim is true.

Before lockdown I drove it on a cross country route from West London up to Burton upon Trent and it was a lovely experience.

The four-cylinder F has conventional damping rather than the V8s’ adaptive system, but the ride is comfortable and the handling is sharp and direct.

The four-cylinder engine doesn’t sound brilliant and the eight-speed automatic gearbox (you can’t buy a manual F-Type any more) is a bit clunky at times. There’s plenty of power though and torque with it.

You get these drives sometimes where everything just falls into place, you’re in the right mood and in this case, in the right car.

But the fat end of 55 grand is still too much as that puts the F-Type dangerously into Porsche Cayman territory. It’s a lovely car though, and I still want one.

Second-hand is the obvious solution.

Early cars are about to break into the teens and probably will have done so after the next few troubled months.