Jaguar is making its F-Type more appealing to Porsche 911 owners by introducing a raft of new additions including a manual gearbox, four-wheel drive variants, a new ‘R’ Convertible and a cleverer infotainment system. The new entry-level price for the F-Type range is £51,250 for the manual V6 Coupe.
The British brand is intent on tempting customers away from rival German firms and into its two-seater sports car. Heading the list of improvements are all-wheel drive versions, a manual ’box and a host of technology updates, swelling the F-Type range from six to 14 models.
In a move that will appeal to sports automobile fans seeking an unadulterated driving experience, Jaguar has slotted-in a six-speed manual gearbox for the first time. only available on the high-revving supercharged V6 models – the entry-level F-Type and the F-Type S – the manual ’box is one gear down on the one in the equivalent seven-geared Porsche 911 but Jaguar hopes its six-speed, short throw effort will suit enthusiasts.
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• LA motor show 2014: preview
Four-wheel drive F-Type
As revealed last month, all-wheel drive versions of the F-Type are on the way too. Gunning for Carrera 4S and Turbo 911 models, AWD F-Types use a new in-house system that uses a torque-on-demand principle. Under normal road conditions, 100 per cent of the engine’s power is sent to the rear wheels just like any other F-Type, but once the rears lose grip, torque is transferred to the front wheels. To distinguish AWD automobiles from RWD ones they get a deeper central power bulge on the bonnet, unique vents on the front wings and special 19-inch alloys.
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The all-wheel drive system will appear on the supercharged 3.0-litre V6 F-Type S Convertible and Coupe and both the current supercharged 5.0-litre V8 R Coupe and the new F-Type R Convertible. In fact, the new R drop-top replaces the V8 S Convertible and uses the hard-top’s 542bhp supercharged eight-cylinder unit and matches the R Coupe’s 186mph limited top speed and 0-60mph sprint time of 3.9 seconds.
Updated infotainment
To keep the F-Type’s customers up-to-date connectivity-wise, the new models get fresh infotainment systems called InControl Touch and InControl Touch plus – the latter of which comes with Jag’s impressive 770W surround sound tech. The eight-screen touchscreen present an all models of the F-Type up to now will get crisper graphics and gesture controls such as ‘swipe’ to skip music tracks and menus and ‘drag’ to scroll through maps. The sat-nav gets a welcome boost in terms of 3D imagery too and will give more comprehensive journey details.
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The new infotainment systems also get a text-to-voice system that reads out text messages. This also includes the ability to type messages on the touchscreen while the automobile is stationary, and compatible apps stored on Apple and Android devices will be accessible through the screen. should an F-Type break down, owners can call Jaguar assistance for help by pressing a newly added button, or using Jaguar’s new InControl Remote app that’s available on their smartphone.
The InControl Remote premium app takes things further, allowing owners to see how much fuel is in the car’s tank, start the engine, set the climate control, see whether the windows are open, lock or unlock the car, sound the horn, flash the lights and reset the alarm – all from their smartphone anywhere in the world.
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New F-Types also receive a brand new electronic power steering system to give crisper steering responses – a criticism of the current car. All models now have the option to have Jag’s clever torque vectoring system fitted and there’s a host of design packs to give F-Types greater visual punch.
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On sale in spring 2015, the revised F-Type range starts at £51,250 for the F-Type Coupe manual and rises to £97,135 for the F-Type R Convertible AWD. Convertibles come with a £5,485 premium over the Coupes, the eight-speed automatic versions cost an extra £1,800 over the six-speed manuals, and the AWD versions come in at extra £4,850 over the RWD F-Types.
The new F-Type models will be revealed at the 2014 LA motor Show. check out our coverage here.