Jaguar F-Type R: angry cat

The steering wheel is a flat-bottom three-spoke affair that houses controls for the multi-media system and cruise control.

In terms of new motoring experiences, 2016 is a banner year for me particularly in terms of driving some very exciting cars.

Audi, Ferrari, Porsche, Maserati, Aston Martin and Jaguar have all provided me with driving thrills of the highest order.

But perhaps the biggest shock of this year for me was Jaguar’s F-Type. I never thought it would be such a fun, characterful, exciting, and most of all, loud and angry (in a great way, of course) car to drive.

The supercharged V6 Type S was my first go. A few months after, I was given the chance to try the meaner, faster, angrier and altogether more exciting Type R, with its supercharged V8 gasoline engine delivering a mind-boggling 560 hp and 680 Newton meters of instantaneous torque tap.

A recap: the F-Type was penned under design genius Ian Callum, (whose younger brother Moray Callum is the head of design at Ford Motor Company’s North American passenger cars).

Ian Callum has penned so many iconic designs, ranging from the Aston Martin DB7, Aston Martin Vanquish, and even the Nissan R390 GT1 Le Mans race car, plus of course many of the current Jaguar saloons and sports cars.

Suffice to say, Ian knows his stuff, and he’s helped transform the Jaguar coupe from a large, bloated luxo-barge to a proper British sports car that looks taut, aggressive, and agile, befitting Jaguar’s sporty and exciting rebranding since coming under the Tata Group’s stewardship.

The F-Type utilizes an all-aluminum structure for lightness, and the front suspension uses a double-wishbone design, while the rears use a sophisticated multi-link affair made also of aluminum to reduce unsprung weight, always crucial for great handling and response.

The supercharged V8 sits front mid-ship in the Jaguar’s engine bay, sandwiched between the front axle and steering gear and the engine firewall, giving the F-Type excellent low yaw and moment of inertia, important for great handling.

The Roots type supercharger is nestled in the valley of the V between the two cylinder banks, helping make the V8 engine even more compact.

You have the option of rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, and though the V6 supercharged variant has the option for a 6-speed ZF manual transmission, the rest get a close-ratio 8-speed automatic with paddle shifters that allow the F-Type R to achieve a top speed of 186 mph or a shade under 300 km/h.

Despite weighing in at 1,777 kg, it will accelerate to 100 km/h in under 4 seconds. That’s seriously fast!

Opening the Jaguar is an event in itself: the door handles are hidden from view until you press unlock on the keyfob and the handles appear like magic.

Pull them open, prepare for some light gymnastics to get in, and you find a most comfortable and luxurious interior.

You find yourself enclosed in rich leather with a variety of shades, plus a selection of carbon fiber, matte aluminum, piano black wood or natural wood finishes depending on your preferences, and a Meridian surround sound system with either a 380-watt or 770-watt option.

Looking taut, aggressive, and agile, the Jaguar F-Type is one sporty and exciting ride.

There’s a multi-media infotainment system with navigation built around a touchscreen system which connects to your mobile media device seamlessly.

Admittedly, for all the high-tech features of the F-Type, and all current Jaguars for that matter, the touchscreen LCD is too pixelated, resembling a cheap, China-made tablet.

Looks aside, it works perfectly and is very intuitive to use.

The steering wheel is a flat-bottom three-spoke affair that houses controls for the multi-media system and cruise control, adjusts for reach and rake, and feels a bit light but decent in feel and feedback.

While the F Type-R might be a proper sportscar in terms of numbers and performance, Jaguar made sure it’s still suited for day-to-day useability.

The seats have memory functions so in case you feel generous about lending your F Type-R to the missus/mistress, a press of a button sees your seat and mirror settings back to your preferred positions.

On the road, the Jaguar is a real hoot to drive. The exhaust uses bypass valves to allow exhaust gasses to exit more freely (just press the sports exhaust button on the center console) and elicit a far more ferocious growl.

It’s one of the best sounding flat-plane crankshaft V8’s available, with all the rumble of a meaty American muscle car plus the high rpm histrionics more akin to a Rolls-Royce Merlin Goshawk powered WW2-era Supermarine Spitfire on a dogfight against some Messerschmitt Bf109’s on the highway.

Yes, that fabulous V8 engine provides 90 percent of the aural experience, and a most pleasing one at that.

But it’s not all guttural, primeval banshee-like wailing angry sounds; the F Type-R has real capabilities.

Handling is super sharp, and the lively rear end means you really have to tread with respect and caution.

Driving neatly yields the safest, most socially responsible conduct on the road.

But if you’re up for some hooning and hooliganism, find an empty stretch of road, turn off the traction/stability control, and floor the throttle in Sport mode, and you get lurid tail-slides and semi-drifts.

Semi-drifting, simply because I’d stop the power-sliding as I didn’t want to roast the expensive Pirelli P-Zero 295/35R20 tires just yet.

Warm them up, and you’ll easily scare yourself silly in a straight-line, losing your license in the process before you lose your wits and the road vanishes ahead.

On winding roads, manual mode engaged through the paddle shifters are better. The F Type R’s vast reserves of torque means you can carve a path through the twisties with great care and precision, feeding power in well-judged measure.

The front 255/40R20 tires provide great feel through transitions, yet surprisingly delivers minimal tram-lining on less than perfect surfaces.

Carbon-ceramic matrix brakes are an expensive option, but the regular steel stoppers do a fine job of hauling down the Jaguar from high speeds repeatedly with fade-free ease and confidence.

The F Type-R is Jaguar’s British-influenced stab at the German aristocrats. It’s easy to drive, has the outright grunt to match them, provides an equally soul-stirring driving experience, and like my experience with the F Type-S before it, emanates a feel-good vibe towards everyone who sees it, again giving me a huge thumbs up on the road.

It’s sexy, mysterious, but fun and quirky without being too snobby-posh and arrogant to other road users.

But don’t mess with it, because you’ll have one very angry cat on the loose!