Jaguar has a storied history of fantastic roadsters. My favorites are the XK120 (1948-54) and the E-Type (1961-75) – both are landmarks in automotive design. I’m ready to add another Jag roadster to my list of favorites, and that’s the new F-Type Convertible.
Roadsters are tricky beasts. Both the XK120 and E-Type push the limits, with long, almost exaggerated hoods and shortened back porches, yet somehow manage to project an air of elegance and sophistication. F-Type is more centered and balanced, placing the driver just slightly toward the rear of the centerline.
The roadster’s retractable roof is a traditional insulated cloth unit, available in four colors. Black is the standard; an additional $600 buys Stone Grey, Red or Beige. Roof up, the F-Type still has a sleek, low look. Roof down, the F-Type is just gorgeous. Integrated dual roll bars are permanently mounted behind driver and passenger head rests, and a tonneau cover conceals the workings of the top and clean up airflow behind the cockpit.
F-Type wears a grille that is in the current Jaguar design vocabulary, with a modest chrome Jaguar head logo at top center. Expressive inset Xenon headlamps fit into the lines of the hood, underlined by attractive LED running lights. The bulging hood hints that it can barely contain the engine beneath, and sports vents that accent the muscularity.
A roadster’s interior is going to be more exposed to the public than a closed-in coupe’s or sedan’s interior, and F-Type’s dash, seats and doors give them something to look at and envy. The driver’s seat is definitely the place to be, with a beefy flat-bottomed steering wheel that sports a dozen or so buttons and controls and a bold leaping chrome jaguar silhouette on the horn. My V8 S test vehicle also had anodized aluminum paddle shifters behind the steering wheel, completing the F1-inspired look. The center stack is elegant and relatively simple for such a sophisticated car, with cool pop up vents at the top. For pure function, I would have preferred that the navigation touch screen were at the top of the stack instead, but the current location is a fair compromise.
One thing that Jaguar has done really well on the F-Type is the little details. The tactile feel of every knob and button on the car is just right, with solid action and great feel. Nothing flimsy or cheap feeling intrudes on the impression of luxury.
A gorgeous roadster won’t win many long-lasting fans if it doesn’t drive well, and Jaguar knows that. There are three trim levels of F-Type Convertible: F-Type (starting at $69,000); F-Type S (starting at $81,000); and F-Type V8 S (starting at $92,000). I can’t complain – I got to spend my time behind the wheel of the V8 S (price at tested: $100,370). The F-Type and F-Type S come with supercharged 3.0-liter V6 engines, while the F-Type V8 S gets a supercharged 5.0-liter V8 that’s tuned to produce 495 hp and 460 lb-ft of torque. Considering the V8 S’s modest 3,671-lb curb weight, it’s not surprising that the roadster is capable of scooting from zero to sixty in 4.2 seconds and reaching an electronically limited top speed of 186 mph. That’s some serious thrust, and it gets sent to the rear wheels through an 8-speed QuickShift transmission. Even with all that power, the F-Type V8 S is rated to achieve 16 mpg city/23 mpg highway. Impressive.
Sound is an important factor in a convertible, and this one’s got a nice British blat to it. Pressing down on the accelerator brings forth a concert for a motorhead, almost negating the need for the fancy 380-watt Meridian sound system that’s standard equipment on this model.
Roadsters have a reputation for body flex, which makes sense, since the roof structure of a coupe or sedan offers engineers and designers more leverage to keep the body straight under stress. Jag’s engineers have made extensive use of aluminum to build a structure that feels solid around curves and over rough surfaces, working with a supple, electronically adjustable suspension with adaptive damping to deliver a great, sporting ride.
I had a blast driving the F-Type V8 S, roof up and roof down. With the roof up, outward visibility was a little bit compromised, especially for reversing and changing lanes. The standard backup sensors helped a lot with reversing. I might spring for the optional Vision Pack ($2,100), which adds front sensors, a rear-view camera and blind spot monitor along with other features. Roof down, and outward visibility is virtually unobstructed – that’s one of the side benefits of a convertible.
The Jaguar F-Type V8 S is a beautiful, sophisticated, fast, fun-to-drive convertible, the latest in a long line of classic roadsters from Jaguar. The less-expensive V6 editions are pretty great, too, but the V8 puts this one over the top.
In this price range, there’s some stiff competition for luxury performance two-seat roadsters. The
Jaguar hopes that you’ll draw a line between the F-Type and the brand’s history of building great roadsters. I think it’s a legitimate claim, and that the F-Type is a future classic.
