Jaguar F-TYPE Coupe hits the wall
British luxury brand readies Castle Bromwich plant for F-TYPE Coupe productionFresh from its near-simultaneous world debuts at last week’s Los Angeles and Tokyo motor show, Jaguar’s all-new F-TYPE Coupe has been hung from a wall outside the British plant that will soon build it.
Jaguar says it took a team of 25 people nine days to mount an F-TYPE Coupe to its prominent position on the wall of the Castle Bromwich factory opposite the Spitfire roundabout.
The fixed-roof F-TYPE, which is due on sale in Australia by the end of next year, will be manufactured at the 112-acre Castle Bromwich plant.
It became a dedicated Jaguar factory in 1980 and produces four Jaguar models: the F-TYPE Convertible, the XK ‘grand tourers’, the XF large sedan and the XJ limousine.
Employing more than 3000 people, Castle Bromwich is home to some of the world’s most advanced aluminium body construction facilities, almost 340 body construction robots and a 24-hour press shop.
Jaguar says the F-TYPE Coupe will be its most dynamically capable, performance-focused production model ever.
While the convertible range comprises the F-TYPE, F-TYPE S and F-TYPE V8 S, the coupe line-up consists of F-TYPE, F-TYPE S and F-TYPE R variants.
Apart from being stiffer and offering more luggage space, however, the coupe follows its open-top sibling’s lead by offering three supercharged petrol engines – two V6s and a V8.
Spearheaded by the 404kW/680Nm 5.0-litre V8-powered F-TYPE R, the coupe range includes the base 250kW F-TYPE and the mid-range 280kW F-Type S, both powered by a 3.0-litre blown six.
The V6 coupes weigh 20kg less than the V6 convertibles, while the F-TYPE R is 15kg lighter than the soft-top V8.
The hard-top F-TYPES are no quicker to 100km/h than the soft-top equivalents, however, at 5.3 seconds and 4.9 seconds for 250kW and 280kW versions respectively, although the F-TYPE R, at 4.2 seconds, is one-tenth of a second faster to 100km/h than the 364kW/625Nm V8 convertible.
All versions drive through an eight-speed Quickshift sequential transmission, while the F-TYPE R sends torque through to a second-generation Electronic Active Differential with a new torque vectoring system.
Jaguar says the F-TYPE’s all-aluminium body, with an outstanding torsional rigidity figure of 33,000Nm/degree, is the stiffest production Jaguar ever.
Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site...
Don't forget to register to comment on this article.
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
