Four more for Jaguar F-TYPE?

Jaguar’s engineers are investigating whether to fit the Anglo-Indian marque’s new sports car hero with a four-cylinder engine.

Senior Jaguar officials this week admitted they were considering giving the F-TYPE Coupe and Cabriolet four-cylinder power before the end of their current life cycles.

Though the F-TYPE Coupe is only now being launched to international media in Spain with supercharged V6 and V8 power and a 300km/h top speed, Programme Director Russ Varney suggested a four-cylinder engine would make sense in the F-TYPE.

“As long as we can deliver the character and performance we expect of the car, we would be open to a four-cylinder,” Varney admitted.

“These days, I don’t think the engine configuration is important. It’s the power and the torque and the way it delivers them that’s important.”

Jaguar has a new turbocharged, direct-injection four-cylinder engine under development, which is scheduled to arrive in September with the all-new XE mid-size sedan at the Paris motor show.

Varney also admitted that Jaguar’s investigation of performance hybrid powertrains was ongoing, but was a lower priority for the F-TYPE than a smaller, conventional four-cylinder engine.

“We like the sound of any configuration of engine that gives 350 horsepower and it does not matter how many cylinders it uses to deliver that,” he said.

“As long as we can deliver an honesty and legitimacy about the performance of the F-TYPE, then we can use whatever powertrain we like.

“If it brings some other benefits, like lighter weight and lower consumption, then why would we not do it?”

There would be other significant advantages to a four-cylinder F-TYPE, besides weight, consumption and CO2 emissions: price.

The base V6 F-TYPE Coupe is listed at €67,700 in Europe, which is €7000 below the roadster, but that price booms when the entry-level 3.0-litre V6 finds its way to markets, like Singapore, China or even the UK, which levee taxes based on engine capacity or fuel consumption.

“It’s a global car so we have to be aware of issues like tax laws in different countries, like Singapore or Thailand. It factors into our decisions, for sure.”

Given the F-TYPE Coupe will be priced from $119,900 plus on-road costs in Australia ($19,645 less than the equivalent roadster), if it’s sold here the four-cylinder could cost less than $100,000.