The Goodwood Test: Jaguar F-Type Four Cylinder

Heritage:

The Jaguar F-Type two-seater, rear-wheel-drive sports car came into being in 2013, based on the old XK coupe/convertible; this year it’s on its second iteration. More significant is the heritage upon which the new engine, a four-cylinder 2.0-litre Ingenium petrol engine, is sold: this is the first petrol four-pot since 1935 (my colleague, Andrew English, points out that Jaguar did develop a four-cylinder version of the XK six-cylinder but never put it on sale; this kind of knowledge is what makes him him and not me). 

What this means, in practice, is a widening of the range at the bottom end: the F-Type now starts at £49,900. The choice for the customer now takes in everything from this 2.0-litre petrol model to the 200mph all-wheel-drive SVR supercar version; there’s an F-Type out there for everyone.

Design

Still the absolute business, this car; Ian Callum, Jaguar’s chief designer, can rest on his laurels for this design alone in my book. It’s a big, wide sports car, with plenty of muscle packed under the aluminium skin, which makes it a serious-looking proposition on the road, and a more substantial offering than the Porsche Boxtser. At the front, that gaping grille swallows the road while the hard, thinly sculpted tail lights strafe the tail horizontally, with one huge tailpipe dissecting the rear skirt.

Inside, you get the familiar steeply raked leather dashboard, tightly fitting seats, lots of controls on the steering wheel and great ergonomics for the driver. 

Performance:

This is the crucial part: can Jaguar get away with a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine in such a big sports car that carries the performance-focused badge of the leaping cat?

Fire the engine up, and, while you don’t get the roar of the 3.0-litre V6, not to mention the supercharged 5.0-litre V8 from the SVR version, you still get a meaningful burble that hints at decent performance.

The figures are more promising than the size of the engine would suggest: the driver has almost 300bhp on tap (296bhp) and 295lb ft of torque, sending the car to 62mph in 5.4 seconds.Not that much of a compromise, then. Yes, there are cheaper 2.0-litre sports cars you could buy, but not many have squeezed this much power out of the casings, and you really don’t need to apologise for this car on the road; the eight-speed auto gearbox works with the power well 

The only point at which you feel slightly as if you’re buying a compromise is with the chassis, which is set up to handle the higher power of the bigger engines, and feels a little too firm around town. Still, I’m looking for quibbles here; when cars are this good, you’re down to the nitty-gritty.

Passion:

In spades: its a two-seat, rear wheel drive British sportscar for heaven’s sake: what’s essentially not to like? But you don’t need a dose of patriotism to steer you through the dog parts: the 2.0 F-Type is still a great car; Jaguar has done a great job with the engine, and that firm chassis comes into its own at speed round twisting country lanes.

We’d still probably take the 3.0-litre engine, were money no object, just because the dimensions and design of this car beg for a V6. But Jaguar’s engineers have done another fine job.

Price as tested: £49,900