4 Things I’ve Learned After 2 Months With A Jaguar F-Type R

Two months have passed since Jaguar delivered a brand new, fully-loaded F-Type R convertible - all £103,000 of it - to my door. It replaced the blue V6 S coupe you’ll have seen in this video, and there have been a few things about the new car that I’ve loved, and one thing that I haven’t.

But let’s get onto the juicy stuff first…

Yes, this actually happened. While filming with the car a few weeks ago, we found a nice stretch of road that we thought was far enough away from houses to get some sexy exhaust sound bites. Turns out we were wrong, as after a few diligent runs through second gear especially, the police arrived and said that a complaint had been made about the noise. To the house owner we annoyed, I’m sorry to have disturbed your ‘Deal Or No Deal’ viewing enjoyment. To any car lovers in the same area, you’re all welcome for one of the best V8 soundtracks in modern car history.

2. It looks just as good dirty as it does clean

There’s something so satisfying about seeing a beautiful car like the F-Type covered in mud spatter. This occured a couple of weeks ago while CT Editor Matt Robinson and I gathered three F-Types - the V8 R, a V6 S and a 2.0-litre inline-four (yes, that’s a thing) - for a cool triple test (full report soon!). Matt’s choice of location for statics was akin to a swamp, but I’m not mad, because the cars all looked great with their new mud jackets.

Many of you guys will be happy to know that the car is now nice and clean, just in case you were hanging in the uncertainty (I know that for many, a dirty car can be very disturbing).

3. It’s dynamically very capable

For the first time since getting the F-Type V8, I explored the car’s handling and dynamics pretty substantially during another shoot that Matt and I did this week with a Mercedes AMG GT as company. While the Mercedes feels more nimble, lighter and more poised than the Jag (again, full report coming soon!), I was really impressed with how capable the super-cabriolet was.

Thanks to its all-wheel drive system, the car barely broke traction on greasy roads, and was easy to place in the corners. The steering feel is lacking, though, and it’s definitely more of a cruiser than it is a hoon, but yeah, like I said, I was pleasantly surprised by how capable it was. As for the straight line speed thing, the Jag feels actually ever-so-slightly faster than the Mercedes. And even if it wasn’t, it’s still the car I’d go to bed with for the noise alone.

4. There is an annoying quality control issue, though…

Like any relationship, the sun doesn’t always shine. And when the sun literally doesn’t shine, and when the rain starts to fall, the Jaguar has a weakness that I’d be pretty upset about as an owner. The front lights.

As you can see, they’ve already allowed water ingress, which is not ideal. The issue isn’t that noticeable when you’re standing far enough away, but this is an F-Type we’re talking about. It’s a car you want to be close to, and when you do get close to the Jag, you quickly see that the lights don’t look great anymore.

Apart from the lights annoying me, I still love the burly V8 convertible. It’s beautiful, unapologetic, and is still the car that people want to talk to me about most (unless I’m in Phil, of course, but that’s just Phil).

If you’ve got any questions about the F-Type, fire away. I’ll be sure to check the comments regularly and will get back to you.

Oh, and one more thing - Jaguar emailed me the other day to ask if I wanted to keep the car until the end of January, so you’ll be seeing more of it soon.