It was one of those Monday mornings for which I was glad the weekend was over. As I walked into the Jaguar showroom beating the sweltering heat that Mumbai is currently facing, a sense of déjà vu prevailed. It was around this time three years ago that I had first driven the mental Jaguar XKR-S and that car occupies a special corner in my heart. Today again it was time to tame another beast powered by the same engine from the Leaping Cat’s ‘R’ family. What you see here is the F-Type Coupe in its R avatar, a savage cat that growls fiercely at any given chance. We at Throttle Blips gave it the full beans and it still left us wanting more, so much so that the exhaust note is still ringing in my ears as I am typing away on the keyboard.
The Jaguar E-Type is one of the most beautiful cars of all time and it is no surprise to see where the design of the F-Type comes from. The long bonnet with the short rear won’t remind you of anything but the gorgeous E. The design pen of Ian Callum and his team have done a fantastic job with the design of this car. The F-Type Coupe has a light weight all aluminium construction. There is a large grille with an ‘R’ badge sitting on the right and is flanked by twin shark fin style air intakes on either side of the front bumper. The stylish head lamps are in line with the bonnet and get J shaped day time running LEDs. The rear haunches add a lot of muscle and the sloping roof line leads to the most awesome rear that I have seen in recent times. Again, the slim beautiful wrap around tail lamps shout out E Type. A diffuser and quad exhaust pipes complete the sexy rear end. Our test car also came with the optional glass roof. The 20 inch double six spoke alloy wheels have a nice design too. To sum it up, this ‘Junglee Billi’ will surely give Priyanka Chopra a complex.
The F-Type comes with keyless entry. To unlock the car, all you need to do is press a button on the door and out pops the door handle, which wasn’t even visible a few moments ago. I like that fact that Jaguar adds that bit of drama to the smallest of things. The cabin, while not as exciting as the exterior, is functional and is what you can expect the insides of a sports car to be. 
The contrast stitching all around looks classy. There is also a carbon fibre weave style finish to parts of the dashboard and centre console. There is a twin pod instrument cluster that is easy to read. The flat bottom steering wheel is electrically adjustable for rake and reach. It is chunky and has good grip. The buttons on the steering wheel could have been of better quality though. They have a very plasticky feel to them. The centre console has an 8 inch screen that houses the infotainment system. The interface is similar to what you see in other Jaguar cars. While it is easy to use, it has started to look a bit dated. They system in the F-Type R Coupe gets some additional features like a G-Force meter, a stopwatch for recording lap times, acceleration / brake graph and you even get ambient lighting with a choice of five colours. The circular knobs for adjusting climate control are nicely finished and easy to use. Press the engine start button and the AC vents rise up from the centre of the dashboard. Did I mention drama? The lower end of the centre console features a switch for the drive modes that looks straight out of a jet fighter. It is finished in copper as are the paddle shifters behind the steering wheel and the engine START STOP button. A grab handle (we call it the OH S&*T handle in this case) for the passenger is incorporated as part of the centre console.
The R performance seats are very comfortable and come with electric adjust, even for the side bolstering. They get memory function as well. An ‘R’ logo is found embossed into the head rest. Controls for seat adjustment are located on the door panels.
Jaguar offers the F-Type with a choice of three sound systems: a six speaker 180 watt Jaguar Sound System, Meridian system with ten speakers, 2 sub woofers and 380 watts or a Meridian Surround Sound system with twelve speakers and 770 watts. They feature USB, AUX and Bluetooth connectivity. The Coupe gets 407 litres of boot space but you cannot use most of it thanks to the space saver tyre that’s located inside. However, we managed to squeeze in our camera bags and a couple of things into it without a problem. There is also button to close the boot electrically, which is available as an option.
I have always had a soft spot for Jaguar’s 5.0 litre supercharged V8 motor and that’s what powers the F-Type R. Press the brake pedal and hit the engine start button. You hear a loud growl as if you have woken up a wild cat from deep slumber. 542 bhp and 680 Nm of thrust propels the beast from 0 to 100 kph in 4.2 seconds and a top whack of 300 kph. The rear spoiler rises automatically as you close in on the ton.
The F-Type R is one of the most awesome sounding cars…Period. While it is docile at lower rpms, hell breaks loose once you start crossing the 4000 rpm mark and you are already grinning by then. Want more? You get the Active Exhaust option that is activated via a button on the centre console. What you get then is nothing short of automotive orgasm. The combination of the sound and the acceleration is like a match made in heaven, or hell maybe. It’s more fun when you lift your foot off the throttle pedal. The exhaust lets out crackles and pops that are so addictive, it brings out the child in you, and you end up doing short bursts of acceleration for no reason at all, terrorizing everyone around you while you are at it. The engine is mated to an eight speed automatic gearbox with sport mode. You can also shift manually with the paddle shifters on the steering wheel. Though its not a dual clutch unit, shifts are very smooth. While the F-Type R is now available with AWD, our test car was the RWD which is more fun any day. Turn into a corner and the tail will slide out without any effort and you need to do an opposite lock to get it straight again. Seeing the traction control light on just raises excitement levels. The car features torque vectoring along with an Electronic Active Differential. Using an electric motor on a multi plate clutch, it manages the amount of torque sent to each of the rear wheels. I did not dare turn traction control off. With this kind of power, I would have surely ended up facing oncoming traffic, if you get what mean. Maybe someday I will be blessed with an empty track and the R Coupe to get naughty. I can dream right?
As mentioned earlier, the car comes with three drive modes: Snow, Comfort and Dynamic. Comfort mode can be used for daily driving. Even though the F-Type R is maniac, it is quite civilized to drive in a relaxed way too. The motor spins silently at lower revs and you can cruise easy at 100 kph at 1200-1300 rpm. Due to its compact size, its easy to manoeuvre around town too. View through the rear windshield is not that great but the rear view camera and parking sensors do their job well. Going into Dynamic mode will stiffen up the suspension, gear shifts will be faster and throttle response also changes. Ambient lighting and the instrument cluster also change to red once in Dynamic. I drove the F-Type on the same roads that I drove the Porsche 911 sometime ago, and while it isn’t a precision tool like the Poker, it is very enthusiastic to go into corners and handles well inspiring confidence at the same time. The oversteer adds to the fun factor and that’s the reason I love this car so much. Ride quality is decent for a sports car that rides on 20 inch wheels and shudder from only the worst bit of roads get filtered into the cabin. Braking is fantastic and the R Coupe can be ordered with carbon ceramic brakes and yellow calipers. The Jaguar Super Performance Braking system with red calipers is standard on the car.
The F-Type comes with a host of safety features. These include driver and passenger airbags, seat mounted airbags, seat belt pre-tensioners, Electronic Brake Assist (EBA), ABS with EBD and Pedestrian Contact Sensing System.
What do I say about the F-Type R then? For one, it was very hard to give it back after the drive. This machine has something that forms a strong bond between itself and the driver. It did with me too. It has a stonker of an engine that has loads of power, sounds unlike anything else and comes with all the drama and entertainment very few can match. At the same time, it is practical to drive in the city and is a great tourer as well. And to top it all, what a stunner it is to look at. But they say the best things don’t come cheap. At Rs. 2.44 crore on road Mumbai, it definitely is expensive. Should you buy one? Close your eyes and spend some time listening to that exhaust note. You will have your answer right there. And finally, does the F-Type R Coupe replace the XKR-S in my heart? No, but it certainly takes a place there in another corner.
Jaguar F-Type R Coupe photo gallery:
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