Dear Santa,
I know Christmas just passed, but I would like to get a head start on 2015. I promise I’ll be a good boy this year, I won’t speed (too much), I’ll try not to get any tickets, I’ll listen to my mom, I’ll keep my room clean, I’ll do the dishes, and I’ll even leave the toilet seat down. All I ask in return for being such a good boy is a brand-new Jaguar F-Type Coupe for Christmas 2015.
Yours truly, etc, etc.
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Above is my letter to Mr. Claus, and I’m hoping he leaves a red Jaguar F-Type under the tree this Christmas. I’m sure you want an F-Type too, dear reader, but you say you don’t believe in Santa or you’ve been a bad little boy/girl (unlike myself). Don’t worry, you see, the Jaguar F-Type is one of those cars that the average guy/girl can buy relatively easily, without having to sell a kidney or re-mortgaging the house.
I recently had the pleasure of spending over a week with the 2015 Jaguar F-Type S Coupe and I loved every moment of it. It has been something I’ve been waiting for a very long time, since I got to review the F-Type Roadster, a little over a year ago.
I had an absolute blast in the F-Type Roadster, buy my heart was really set on the coupe, I prefer this car in the coupe form because living in Canada you don’t get too many opportunities to drive with the top down. The cloth top in the up position really does take away from the gorgeous lines of the F-Type.
By now you probably know everything there is to know about the F-Type and the history behind it, the sports car was initially offered as a roadster and the coupe was introduced a year later. The F-Type is the spiritual successor to the E-Type, designed by Ian Callum. The British automaker has also made a limited edition special model called the Project 7.
The F-Type Coupe comes in three flavors: mild, spicy, and knock your socks off spicy! The base model (mild) is called the F-Type, and is powered by a 3.0 liter supercharged V6 engine producing 340 horsepower. It’s able to reach 100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.3 seconds with a top speed of 260 km/h (161 mph), and has a starting price of $72,900 in Canada.
The next trim up is the F-Type S, the car we had for our review, which is also powered by the 3.0 liter supercharged V6 engine producing 380 HP and reaching the 100 km/h mark in 4.9 seconds with a top speed of 275 km/h (170 mph). V6 S has a starting price of $84,900.
The top of the line, and absolutely bonkers, model is the F-Type R Coupe, which is powered by a 5.0 liter supercharged V8 engine that produces 550 HP and reaches 100 km/h in 4.2 seconds with a top speed of 300 km/h (186 mph). The R Coupe has a starting price of $109,900.
All three models send power to the rear wheels via an 8-speed ZF automatic transmission with steering wheel mounted paddle shifters. People have been complaining about the lack of a manual transmission, and even in my roadster review, I said I didn’t even feel the need for manual, the auto is that good. But Jaguar has decided to offer a 6-speed manual on the V6 equipped F-Type cars and they’re also going to offer AWD on the V6 equipped cars.
The tough choice is yours to make, do you want the mild or absolutely wild? I personally think the mid-model is the one to get, it comes with enough power to have lots of fun with but not too much to get you into serious trouble. With that being said, I would love to get behind the wheel of the V8 beast.
As far as styling goes, the overall shape of the coupe is the same as the convertible, with the addition of the hard roof. Adding the roof really accentuates the lines of the car and makes the hips (wheel arches) look really wide, this car looks absolutely seductive from the rear. The convertible was quite the head turner, but nothing compared to the coupe.
This car turns head everywhere you go, if you want attention, this is the car to get! It gets the attention of a supercar with a price tag that’s not very supercar-like. The attention is from all sorts of people, from the young to the old and males to females. If you like to collect the opposite sex’s phone numbers, you won’t have very hard time accomplishing that either.
The interior on the coupe is the same as the roadster, which is a very sporty design with easy to understand gauges and controls. The interior is a pleasant place to spend your time in, I found it quite comfortable, but my friend (and photographer), who is 6′ 4”, found it to be cramped, especially the dashboard getting in the way of his knees.
Driving the F-Type S Coupe was an absolute blast, the car handles great on the streets and there’s loads of power to go fast and pass people. There is lots of traction, even in the wet and cold winter conditions of Vancouver. If you do get a little over exuberant with your right foot, the traction control brings you back in line quickly without too much drama. If you want to have some real fun, turn off the electronic nannies and this car turns into a drift machine.
Overall, I really enjoyed my time in the Jaguar F-Type S Coupe. It is a fantastic looking car that turns heads everywhere you go, it’s pretty comfortable and has good power. I like the car so much that I’m thinking of buying one of these cars some time in the next few years.
