The 2020 Jaguar F Type remains in an awkward position

When the Jaguar F-Type was first released in 2013 it was a highly competitive sporting GT car. It looked great, sounded lovely, was hot off the mark and was very well priced especially when compared against rivals from Porsche and co. When the even better coupe model appeared a year or so later thing got even better for the F-Type. However, the rate of progress in the car industry has been rampant over the past five or six years to a point where the F-Type was starting to feel quite dated. This was even more evident in the way that it drove when compared to its best rivals.

This brings us nicely onto the car you see in our photo, the heavily revamped F-Type. It’s been sharpened all-round visually and whose dynamics, says Jaguar, are in a totally different league when compared to the previous car. So, are Jaguar telling the truth about this new F-Type or is it still little more than a relic when compared with the Porsche 911 Turbos, Audi R8s and all-new Corvettes of this world?

When you first take a look you soon realise that Jaguar have made a lot of changes to the 2020 F-Type. It’s fair to say that this car looks a fair bit different to the old car. The biggest changes come at the front where there are new headlights. The previous F-Type had rounder headlights that were positioned higher up on the bonnet. Now they’re slimmer, positioned more towards the front of the car, and has a kind of sleek J-blade look to them. At this point it’s worth noting that LED headlights come as standard on the R models along with adaptive high-beam and pixel LED technology too. Bringing the headlights further forward gives this car a slightly longer look but in reality the dimensions haven’t changed at all. You also get a couple more vents on the bonnet, the bumper is different and you get a bigger grille. Around at the back you also have different taillights that are more defined than the ones before.

Step inside the F-Type and you’ll discover that there are a few changes in here too. Some of the materials have been upgraded to give the car a better feeling of quality and generally speaking it’s all put together very nicely. Not only does everything feel and look very durable but there’s also some new design features too. Most notably is the new 12.3 inch digital driver display which looks very impressive indeed. In truth, the analogue dials from the previous F-Type were beginning to look a little old-school so this new system brings the car right up to date.

So, what are the changes under the 2020 F-Type’s skin? Well, a simplified engine line-up now consists of the 2.0 litre 4 cylinder badged the P300 and a new detuned version of the 5.0 litre supercharged V8 with 444 brake horse power (bhp). This unit is badged the P450. We only had a brief drive in this car but it was long enough for us to conclude that it’s a worthwhile step up from the more pedestrian P300. Scintillating pace and still the option of rear-wheel-drive this seems to be the new sweet spot of the F-Type range even if the majority of buyers will still be opting for the P300. Then you have the range-topping F-Type P575 R which now has the same power output as the previous F-Type SVR.

If you’re familiar with the V8 supercharged engine from Jaguar Land Rover you’ll probably know that it’s got a bit of a reputation for being extremely loud. In fact, it’s about as subtle as a rugby player in a pub who’s consumed about 8 pints of larger! What Jaguar have done with the 2020 model is given drivers a “quiet” option. Apparently, not all customers want a really brutish V8 soundtrack all the time so there’s now an option for a quiet startup. The question here is, have they actually robbed any character from the supercharged V8? Well, absolutely not because all you have to do is press the sports exhaust button, select “Dynamic”, and release the ridiculous potential of the engine which is seriously rapid. Another thing that’s really great is that because the car sits on an all-wheel-drive system there’s just so much traction. It’s this traction that allows you to drive confidently and really make the most of the engine in a way that you couldn’t in previous F-Type Rs. The tweaked suspension has made this car feel slightly more stable at the rear end and this certainly helps highlight the fact that this is a really fantastic engine.

The previous F-Type didn’t quite give drivers a beautifully smooth and flat ride and although it’s still not perfect in this car it does feel slightly more composed. The engine is a massive selling point for this car but it’s not really much use if the rest of the dynamic package doesn’t make it all that fun to drive. We could argue that this is an area where the F-Type falls down a little bit when compared to its rivals. At this pricing point it’s important to remember that we’re dealing with some pretty serious competitors such as the Porsche 911 and Audi R8. The F-Type doesn’t have the same level of delicacy in its handling than you get from these other cars. The F-Type is a very heavy car and so the body control does suffer. When you drive it you really do notice that it’s a heavy car especially because you don’t get that sort of effortless nimbleness than the 911 offers. Saying this when the engine sounds as good as it does in the F-Type then all of this is soon forgotten.

The F-Type line-up benefits from some steering, suspension and traction control tweaks. All of these tweaks makes it feel sharper to drive, more controlled and much more comfortable. However, the F-Type remains in a bit of an awkward position pricing-wise and the P300 still doesn’t feel particularly special especially when you factor in that it costs a similar amount to the Porsche 718 Cayman and Alpine A110, both of which are outstanding sports cars. If your budget can stretch to it then the P450 is much more enjoyable and offers a rear-wheel-drive V8 experience that helps it stand out more. The P575 R is ludicrously quick but it’s also extremely expensive for what it is. It doesn’t quite have a perfect mile munching Grand Touring package and neither does if offer the class-leading handling of a Porsche 911. However, the monstrous V8 will be a strong enough selling point for many buyers. Interested? Then head to DesperateSeller.co.uk where we have a plethora of used Jaguar F-Type cars for sale across the UK.