2013 Jaguar F-Type Review: Performance, Style, and Features

It isn’t every weekend that I get to experience a lifestyle of the rich and famous. However, with the 2013 Jaguar F-Type at my disposal, this weekend surely seemed to be one of them. It was time to drive as much as I could; discovering places I hadn’t seen and speeds I hadn’t reached.

I picked up the keys and it wasn’t long before I found myself sitting in the driver’s seat of the 2013 Jaguar F-Type. It was a convertible, finished in a beautiful Firesand orange hue and wore 19” Tornado black alloys.

Style

Up front, the sculpted hood flaunted black air vents while the headlamps were surrounded by Jaguar’s signature LED lights. As I walked along the car admiring its curves, I noticed the aerodynamic door handles that are similar to the type you’d come across on a Nissan GTR or a Mercedes SLS AMG. Get to the rear and the massive centre mounted exhausts along with the retractable spoiler are the first things I noticed.

What made this 4470mm long and 1923mm wide eye candy even more special was that the entire body was constructed from aluminum using a range of advanced techniques derived from the aerospace industry. Key features of its body construction include:

• Epoxy bonding
• Riveting

These techniques contribute to a light, strong, and rigid body structure.

Interior Finishing

Open the door and you're likely to be taken aback by the height of the seating position. Though many people who sat in the car found it claustrophobic with the roof up, I personally loved the snug fit and felt like a pearl in an oyster. The black leather performance bucket seats with orange stitching are extremely supportive and offer:

• Automatic height adjustment
• Recline adjustment

These features ensure you have the best driving position possible.

Interior Features and Technology

In terms of layout, the dashboard and centre console are extremely simple and uncluttered. Towards the top, there is an Intelligent Venting System. This system operates as follows:

• When the A/C is switched on, two vents slide up from the dashboard.
• When the A/C is switched off, the vents slide back down.

In the middle of the centre console resides a decent 8" touch screen infotainment system which can also be used to view G-forces, acceleration, and braking graphs, as well as a stopwatch to clock your sprints.

I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered how effectively the air-conditioning system on our F-Type performed. Although it was about 40 degrees outside, with the A/C cranked up to just 2 points, it was more than comfortable and even got a little chilly in the cabin. Looks like the hot weather testing carried out in Death Valley, California paid off!

Our test car was also equipped with a 10 speaker Meridian sound system that was capable of playing music through Bluetooth, USB, or an AUX cable. However, no matter how much I tweaked the settings, I was unable to make it sound any good. So I gave up and enjoyed the array of exhaust notes instead.

An adaptive front lighting system was also present on our test car. This system swivels the headlamps by:

• 14 degrees outward
• 7 degrees inward

to better illuminate the path the driver intends to take.

Safety Features

In terms of safety, the F-Type packs in:

• Emergency Brake Assist (EBA)
• Electronic Brake-Force Distribution (EBD)
• Driver and passenger front airbags
• Seat mounted airbags with head protection
• Seat belt pre-tensioners
• Roll over bars
• Blind spot monitoring
• Reverse camera
• Pedestrian Contact Sensing System

The Pedestrian Contact Sensing System automatically deploys the bonnet to help protect pedestrians by raising the bonnet slightly if it detects contact.

Having Said That...

Though the interior of the F-Type was a premium and comfortable place to be, it did pack in a few unpleasant surprises as well. For starters, the Bluetooth system was probably the most complicated I have ever encountered and it insisted on automatically increasing and decreasing the volume when streaming music.

Secondly, the stopwatch doesn't automatically calculate your sprint times like in a SRT but instead requires the driver to start and stop it manually. This means a driver would need:

• One hand on the steering
• One hand on the gear lever
• One hand to start and stop the timer

While simultaneously keeping one eye on the road ahead and another on the speedometer. Clearly, it isn't very practical.

Finally, the boot. If I were to describe it in one word, I'd call it a joke. Although the official readings claim it can pack in nearly 200 liters, you'd have a tough time fitting in more than a couple of backpacks.

Drive Performance

Power and Acceleration

The F-Type S packs in a 3.0 liter V6 supercharged engine under the hood, delivering:

• 380 horsepower
• 460 Nm of torque

Switch the sport exhaust on, and the F-Type makes its way to 100 km/h in just 4.9 seconds, reaching a ground-shaking top speed of 275 km/h. The roots-type twin vortex supercharger offers instant access to high levels of torque at all engine speeds, minimizing the gap between my need for power and the engine's response.

Handling and Transmission

The 8-speed Quickshift transmission is extremely intelligent. When set in Auto, it continuously monitors the driving situation and responds accordingly. Some standout features include:

• Fast Throttle-Off recognizes rapid throttle adjustments and holds the gear ratio in anticipation.
• Corner Recognition holds the ratio to ensure the car is in the correct gear when exiting a bend.
• Speed Matching Management System matches engine speed to gearbox speed during downshifts.

However, I spent most of my time in manual mode for a more engaging driving experience. The F-Type offers driving modes including Normal, Snow, and Dynamic, allowing for significant improvements in steering weighting, throttle response, and quicker gear shifts in Dynamic mode.

Suspension

On the F-TYPE S and F-TYPE V8 S models, Adaptive Damping assesses body motion and pitch rates 100 times per second, adjusting the settings for each damper accordingly. The system measures steering wheel position 500 times per second to predict the body’s roll rate, ensuring body control, stability, and agility.

To achieve an ideal weight distribution, the battery, electronic systems, and wiper washer bottle are all placed in the rear.

Brakes

Although the F-Type V6 S is capable of reaching a top speed of 275 km/h, stopping is never an issue thanks to Jaguar’s high performance 380mm front and 325mm rear ventilated brake discs, along with the Pirelli P Zero tires our test car was fitted with. As standard, Jaguar offers black brake calipers, but these can be switched for the optional and much better-looking red calipers.

Verdict

Quite simply then, the Jaguar F-Type V6 S provided me with more than enough kicks to keep me entertained all weekend. Although it suffered from a drinking problem and was addicted to Octane 98, I gladly filled it up twice in 3 days! The only thing left to do now is to figure out how to get hold of AED 329,000 to have one parked right up my driveway.