Jaguar F-TYPE four-cylinder 2018 Review

The sell
Every new vehicle needs a selling point.

For Jaguar’s F-TYPE, which first graced our shores in 2013, the pitch from the dealership floor has been unequivocal: emotion. Cracking looks and an evocative and raspy soundtrack – devilish, even: Jaguar’s raucous six-cylinder and eight-cylinder engines have leveraged the beguiling coupe and convertible pairing into a clear market niche.

Until now. The British firm’s sports car line-up has a new entry point in the form of a four-cylinder F-TYPE. Effectively, it brings a lower starting price of $107,012 plus on-road costs (a $14,200 reduction on the entry V6) in the same iconic and stylish package. Convertible pricing starts at $125,712 plus on-road costs.

The price drops; so too does the power. The four-pot, paired with a single twin-scroll turbocharger, develops 221kW and 400Nm, enough to propel the F-TYPE to triple figures in 5.7 seconds. Fuel use is also down by about 16 per cent, to a more credible 7.2L/100km.

There’s no manual transmission available, with Jaguar giving the nod to a solitary ZF eight-speed auto instead. Though thankfully, the F-TYPE retains its rear-drive status.

In some respects, you could see Jaguar’s plans in plain sight. Porsche has reverted to four-cylinder power in the Cayman and Audi has earned thousands of sales with its four-pot TT, both slotting below the Jaguar on price in most variants.

Rivals aside, this is the F-TYPE – a car that has always been rich in emotion. Does Jaguar’s latest offering water down a successful formula?

Sneaky packaging
Yes, the four-cylinder lowers the price point for an F-TYPE. But like many aspects of the luxury car world, the devil is in the detail.

For instance, Jaguar will charge an additional $1060 for a reversing camera, $640 for digital radio and $1200 for keyless entry. But the sticking point for many F-TYPE enthusiasts will be the car’s louder sports exhaust, which is part of a $7800 ‘R Dynamic’ pack that also includes larger 19-inch wheels, among other things. So apply the right exhaust and some obligatory niceties and you’re up in V6 territory pretty quickly.

What you do get standard is 18-inch alloy wheels, leather and suede sports seats, leather-wrapped steering wheel, aluminium interior highlights, climate control and keyless ignition.

An eight-inch touchscreen assumes pride of place in the dashboard centre fascia, projecting key functions including Bluetooth and sat-nav, in concert with a small digital display in the instrument cluster. Apple CarPlay or Android Auto are not available, though you do get 10GB of personal media storage on board.

On the safety front, the coupe gets six airbags, the convertible four. Automated emergency braking is now standard, though if you’re after blind spot monitoring or lane keep assist you’ll need to re-visit that pesky options brochure.

In addition, four-cylinder misses out on LED headlights with daytime running lights – a standard fitment on the rest of the range.

The F-TYPE is paired with a three-year/unlimited kilometre warranty.

Familiar surroundings
Like its exterior, the four-cylinder F-TYPE is virtually a carbon copy of its siblings from the inside. That’s a good thing.

Quality materials, crisp displays and a low-slung driving position are the key points from the cockpit, one that still feels fresh despite a shelf life now bordering on five years.
The exception to the rule is the touchscreen and infotainment system, which both lack clarity in the face of newer technology from Porsche and Audi.

The F-TYPE’s incidental storage is strong, with bottle-ready door pockets and enough cubbies for the daily commute. Boot space, a gripe among the entire 32 model-strong F-TYPE range, remains poor in this application, especially the convertible.

Kitty or big cat?
From the moment you press the F-TYPE’s starter button it is clear the four-cylinder has a distinctly different character to its siblings.

There’s no requisite snarl on start up and sound bites are no longer available in readily accessible, blaring doses. Instead, the four-pot asks you to up it for the rent before it really comes back with something aurally inspiring.

The highly-touted Ingenium engine feels unusually industrial in heated city traffic. It’s certainly no deal breaker, though we did notice a slight vibration through the cabin whenever the stop-start system cut and re-fired power.

In saying that, there is much to like about the driveline in daily conveyance. It finds peak torque from a lowly 1500rpm and, thanks to a traditional torque converter, the F-TYPE resists hesitation and jerkiness off the line – something that can’t be said for many dual-clutch automatic rivals.

Prod the go-fast pedal a little harder and the F-TYPE provides a more rousing response. After a whiff of turbo lag, the engine finds its feet and climbs confidently past 5000rpm, at which point the exhaust note becomes more satisfying.

There’s never that crazy point along the tacho where you feel as though you’re about to be pushed forward in time, though the four-cylinder bristles with enthusiasm and makes a willing accomplice on the right piece of road.

Lift the throttle late heading into a corner and the four fires a volley of pops and crackles, a real hallmark of the F-TYPE – albeit slightly muted in this application.

Elsewhere, the F-TYPE retains its sporting pedigree, even improves it in some areas. The steering feels meaty and responsive to inputs, the body is well controlled and the rear-drive dynamics create a fluid and entertaining drive experience.

Front end grip and agility is arguably stronger than before, owed to a 52kg weight loss over the nose. Jaguar has made suspension revisions to suit, an undertaking which helps the four-cylinder sit flat through corners and unfazed by undulating surfacing.

On country roads the F-TYPE isn’t as comfortable as it could be. The optional 19-inch wheels fitted to our test car reflect inconsistencies busily through the cabin and occasionally thud over sharper bumps. Furthermore, tyre roar from the car’s Pirelli P-Zeros is constant and particularly noticeable on coarse chip surfaces.

We suspect the standard fitment 18-inch wheels would not feel so busy.

The convertible feels like the more enjoyable driver to this humble correspondent. Like the coupe, it tips the scales at over 1500kg, though it feels a treat on the open road, blocking out the outside elements with the roof up and cosseting occupants from all but a lick of wind over the head with the roof down. Thankfully, the fabric folding mechanism can be stowed on the move, too.

Verdict
Ultimately, the F-TYPE’s engine feels as though it would be more at home in a hot hatch than a purebred sports car, though you could say the same for the engines fitted to the Cayman/Boxster and TT.

Irrespective of this, Jaguar Australia is bullish about the sales potential of its newcomer. Its engine is convincing, as is the lower starting price, but shifting prospective owners away from the meatier and marginally more expensive V6 could prove a hard sell to the marque’s aficionados.

Especially when pricing is only a small stretch more.

2018 Jaguar F-TYPE four-cylinder pricing and specifications:
Price: from $107,012 (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: Five-star ANCAP