Elementary schools teach us that humans have five senses. Later in life, depending on who you believe, it turns out that there may be many more. Proposed additions to the original five seem a bit dubious—is hunger really a sense, or are you just bored?—but five make the list every time. One of those is our ability to perceive sound. And we do more than perceive it. We seek out noises that are pleasing to us. First came singing, then someone invented the piano, and now we have supercharged V-8 engines. Progress.
Of the supercharged V-8s, the one found in the 2021 Jaguar F-type R coupe is a particularly sonorous example. There's the burbling and cracking soundtrack that Jaguar introduced when they launched the F-type in 2014. But now there's 575 horsepower and, thanks to the power and traction of all-wheel drive, a 3.5-second run to 60 mph (that's 0.1 second quicker than a Shelby GT500). Every tap of the accelerator is a gut punch. It's a special engine, a little talisman against boredom and the indignities of daily life.
Jaguar is smart to use this engine in the R model. Once exclusive to the top-performing F-type SVR, the SVR's death allowed the 575-hp V-8 to make it into the slightly less exotic F-type R. The engine is intoxicating and helps distract from the fact that so little was changed in this year's redesign of this now seven-year-old car. The biggest difference is that a new hood and front end give the F-type a fresh face. In back, taillights are now narrow LED strips, but the rest of the F-type's exterior changes are harder to spot. Inside, the main difference is that the analog gauges in front of the driver are replaced by a large 12.3-inch digital screen that offers a few different gauge displays.
Aside from the extra 25 horsepower it inherited from the dearly departed SVR, the biggest changes to the F-type R reside in the suspension and chassis. There are new springs, dampers, anti-roll bars, and rear knuckles. Those new elements were designed to improve the R's ride and improve steering feel. The ride still isn't what we'd call soft, but it makes Michigan's uncivilized roads seem nearly civilized. The steering communicates better than in some lesser sports coupes we've driven lately, but responses are just a bit too twitchy.
Perceived ride and handling improvements aside, the F-type failed to achieve any meaningful performance improvements as a result of its various tweaks and upgrades. A trip to the test track returned performance numbers that were almost identical to those we recorded in an F-type R in 2015. Skidpad grip is strong at 1.0 g, but a 1.0-g car isn't as astonishing as it used to be; a 911 can pull 1.08 g.
There are some other small problems with the F-type R. The cabin remains cramped, and seat travel is severely limited by the bulkhead that separates cabin from cargo area. If two hours in the F-type induced back pain in our young, active reviewer, imagine the effect it will have on drivers in Jag's target demographic. There were also a few maladies that befell this particular F-type. The rear spoiler wouldn't deploy on command, though it did stand at attention when the car was traveling at high speed. The door handles, which are designed to lay flush with the door panel when not in use, refused to retract into their shells even when the car was parked and locked.
This car's $115,110 asking price makes those foibles and the unchanged performance harder to swallow, but it's not all bad in the F-type. It feels and looks upscale. If any of the interior surfaces are covered in something that's not leather, we were fooled. The 14 cubic feet of cargo space is plenty for a weekend trip, and twice what you get in the convertible. The F-type coupe is one of the best-looking cars on the road today, with an exterior design that's arresting without straying into ostentatiousness. And the as-tested price drops if you're willing to forgo the $4500 paint color. Plus, there's that exhaust note. It's almost enough to make you drain your 401(k).
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2021 Jaguar F-Type R Puts on a Brave New Face - Car and Driver
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