2015 Jaguar F-Type V8 S Convertible

Growing up I had two car posters on my bedroom wall. One was a V12 Jaguar E-Type and the other was an E30 BMW M3. Till this day, I consider myself blessed to have briefly owned the latter, but the E-Type has always been way out of my league.

Now though, Jaguar has produced what many consider to be the successor to the E-Type and at least according to the alphabet, it is. The brand new F-Type is the first true sports car the firm has produced in many years and holy sh*t have they done a great job.

The exterior design is hands down the most handsome, elegant, dynamic and sexy shape I’ve seen in a while. The front looks like the face of a cat, even the nostrils seem to belong to the feline family, the rear is clearly based on the E-Type and the sculpted sides add to the dynamic character. The way the body sits close to the ground over the 20” performance rims showing off its width is simply phenomenal.

Inside the mood is not much different as the driver centric dash screams “drive me hard and drive me now”. The full leather trim is outstanding, fit and finish are top notch and the holly sh*t handle for the passenger says even more than the fighter jet style switches do. The seats are the perfect balance between super-sport and grand touring and the way the car feels wrapped around the driver is precisely what a genuine sports car should feel like.

The gold start button could easily be the “MGM” button since when you press it you hear the lion roar.  Jaguar has not misled you with the frantic looks, everything on this car has been developed with performance in mind. The 5.0L V8 Supercharged engine outputs 495 HP and 460 lb-ft or torque and it is exclusively rear-wheel-drive. Needless to say, performance is blistering as 0-100km/h comes in 4.2” and 100-0km/h in just 38m. The active exhaust sounds bassy and powerful in normal mode, but push the “make some frickin noise” button and all hell breaks loose. The 8-speed ZF “QuickShift” automatic gearbox is perfect and the paddle-shifters have a grippy coating so they never slip.

The biggest thing about this F-Type is the way it handles. Smooth or rough, straight or twisty, narrow or wide, the F-Type deliberately provokes the driver to drive harder and harder. The steering is quick, crisp and well weighted; the steering wheel itself is thick and perfect to grip. What the steering fails to communicate to the driver, the chassis does as the perfect seat delivers all the information you need. The brake pedal is linear and doesn’t take too long to bite and all this dynamic handling comes with very good levels of comfort. At this point the only thing to worry about is your smile running out of face.

Of course being a convertible means driving with the roof folded back which happens super quickly. The breeze and the sense of freedom add to all the above, but hold on cause what really matters now, is that the exhaust vocals are even louder.

Very few times in my life have I said so much but really said nothing at all. No matter what I tell you about this car, I won’t even come close to telling you the truth about it. Bottom line, it is the perfect roadster. Period.