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Ken Gratton21 Jul 2019
REVIEW

Jaguar F-TYPE 2.0 2019 Review – Long-term Test #1

Small engine sports car from Jaguar is really big in the looks department
Model Tested
Review Type
Long-Term Test
Review Location
Update #1

The Jaguar F-TYPE is a car with which I have become eminently familiar. I drove the original convertible for its international launch back in 2013, followed by two consecutive years of V8 and V6 variants at Australia's Best Driver's Car.

When the manual variants arrived, I got back behind the wheel once more for my 500th carsales review, and since then I've written a comparison featuring the SVR version of the Jaguar F-TYPE and the Porsche 911 Turbo.

More recently I wrote the comparison for the four-cylinder F-TYPE and the Alpine A110. In between, I reviewed the four-cylinder Jaguar F-TYPE for its global launch in Norway.

So two things spring to mind at this point: The F-TYPE is one cat that doesn't trigger my allergies, and no one else at carsales has my F-TYPE-wrangling experience.

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Due to an unfortunate event, I ended up in our long-term test Jaguar F-TYPE earlier than anticipated (thanks, thieving, drug-crazed vandal – hope you're enjoying your new life in the big house).

And the F-TYPE felt very much like every other F-TYPE I've ever driven – with one exception. After about an hour's driving I was feeling some discomfort in the lower back. Didn't remember the F-TYPE being that uncomfortable in the driver's pew. Then I found the lumbar adjustment had clearly been set up for an alien lifeform from outer space.

After sorting that, everything was good. The Jaguar's driving position has all the necessary adjustment to suit just about anyone... any human. A seat-position memory (optionally available for $2150 as part of a pack) ensures you can program your own settings for recall after someone else has driven the car, and the driver's seat is very comfortable for long-distance touring and it's well shaped for lateral hold.

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If there's any gripe at all with the Jaguar's helm it relates to the fine calibrations of the speedo dial on the left of the instrument cluster. There's no bespoke label for 70km/h, which is a common speed limit in Australia. And with the torque on tap and good noise suppression, the F-TYPE could easily exceed the prevailing limit without the driver being aware until after the flash of the speed camera in the rear-vision mirror.

Fortunately, the F-TYPE has a digital speed readout high in the centre of the binnacle. F-TYPE drivers will likely become very reliant on this in speed-obsessed Victoria.

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Packaging is little changed from every other F-TYPE I've ever driven, so I won't focus on that too much, barring the comments above concerning the driving position. As an aside however, the infotainment screen and the instrument cluster combined lack the sophistication and flexibility of the latest BMW Z4, and nor is there the ergonomic simplicity and fail-safe redundancy of BMW's iDrive controller and 'favourites' buttons.

In this regard the Jaguar is beginning to show its age. And in fairness, it's a car that has been around for six years now.

This particular F-TYPE feels slightly better built than the vehicle we tested against the Alpine some months back. Unlike that car, this F-TYPE comes with no obvious rattles.

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Grand tourer dynamics

As noted during the international launch, the four-cylinder Jaguar F-TYPE has less weight in the nose and that certainly has had some impact on the car's handling in particular. It's very close to neutral at or near the Jaguar’s roadholding limits. There's a touch of understeer present at higher speeds, whereas the V6 and V8 models will slip easily into oversteer at the point of breaking away.

Overall, the four-cylinder car's handling may be not as tail-happy as its siblings, but compared with some of its sports-car rivals for around the same price there's more body-roll. And while the roadholding is commendable, it's not in the same league as most of the Jaguar's competitors – especially the Alpine and the Cayman.

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The Jaguar is in the same ballpark for grip as the BMW Z4 M40i recently tested, but the BMW – not a sports car the likes of the Alpine or the Cayman – offers handling that feels more secure and livelier at the same time. The BMW corners flatter than the Jaguar and promises to oversteer sooner – and that's fundamentally wherein lies the difference between the two cars.

Feedback from the Jaguar's steering and brakes is a tactile experience, and the steering reacts rapidly to driver input. In parallel with the measured handling, the F-TYPE steers precisely in corners.

Ride comfort is a little choppy at low speed but body control is on the money at touring speeds, and is generally more compliant than some of the Jaguar's sportier rivals in its market segment.

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Power lacking pounce

The turbocharged four-cylinder engine in the F-TYPE is noticeably laggy, as we observed during the comparison with the Alpine. There's strong torque available once the turbo is on boost and the engine will rev cleanly to the 6300rpm redline – but it's all kind of undramatic for a sports car. And it's also held back by the traction/stability control systems, which really make the engine bog down on the way out of a tight bend.

The F-TYPE came with the option of a switchable active exhaust for $270. With the active exhaust valve enabled the engine sounds like an old-fashioned sporty four-cylinder. Even without the bimodal valve open the engine sounds 'musical'.

On the overrun there are the requisite pops from the exhaust, but the Jaguar is not as bold and raucous as a JCW MINI, for example. In fact, the Jaguar engine is usually subdued and produces practically no noise, labouring or vibration at around 1900rpm, its engine speed at 100 km/h.

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Fuel consumption reached as high as 12.6L/100km during consecutive days of urban commuting. On a 70km test run the F-TYPE posted a figure of 10.3L/100km, which was essentially the same as the last time the four-cylinder sports car was tested (10.2L/100km) for the Alpine comparison. Sadly, both results for the Jaguar compare unfavourably with the BMW Z4 M40i (9.9) and the Alpine (8.6). And its around-town economy was worse than the larger-engined Cayman 718 (11.8L/100km).

The Jaguar's engine drives to the rear wheels through an eight-speed ZF automatic, which complements the engine and responds quickly to a tug of the shift paddle on the left.

On the open road, there’s some rustling around the external mirrors and some mild rumbling from the 18-inch Continental tyres (245/45 R18 front, 275/20 R18 rear). That road noise becomes more pronounced at lower speeds on coarse-chip bitumen.

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At night the Jaguar's headlights are so-so. While the beam is white, on low beam it's just not set high enough and lacks power. The F-TYPE doesn't come with auto high-beam assist and the lights aren't adaptive, leaving the driver no option but to use high beam more frequently (and manually) on country roads where wildlife by the side of the road may pose a danger. For the price, the Jaguar is excused those omissions... barely.

The F-TYPE also loses a few points for the field of vision to the rear. Despite being smaller in most dimensions than the rampaging Aston Martin DBS Superleggera from a few weeks earlier, the Jaguar is harder to back out of the driveway at home – even with reversing camera (an option costing $1060) and rear parking sensors. It's the haunches of the Jaguar, with its large rear wheel arches and quarter panels that make it hard to place, relative to the landscape.

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What we're left with, however, is a car that has played an important role for Jaguar. It has been widely admired and still fulfils the needs of buyers wanting a car that's more comfort-oriented than a hard-core sports car for around the same money. Even now the F-TYPE remains a great-looking machine – which earns it forgiveness from buyers who have sworn off the Z4.

In some ways the F-TYPE continues to represent good value and there's a heritage aspect to its presence (aural and visual) that encapsulates its on-going appeal to buyers. Although it does come with Apple CarPlay these days, revisiting the Jaguar's standard equipment list would help keep the F-TYPE relevant, but if you can live without all the most modern of mod cons, the Jaguar remains exactly what loyal buyers want from a car with a foot in each camp – sports car and grand tourer.

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How much does the 2019 Jaguar F-TYPE 2.0 cost?
Price: $123,848 (as tested, plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 221kW/400Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 7.2L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 163g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: TBA

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Written byKen Gratton
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Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalistsMeet the team
Pros
  • Visual presence
  • Ride quality and noise suppression
  • Blend of touring and sports capability
Cons
  • Turbo lag
  • Aging instrument layout
  • Field of vision
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