When Jaguar announced that the F-Type will also have a coupe version, one whose top of the range variant will be even more powerful than the Roadster, most sports car aficionados were probably overcome with joy.
A whistling supercharged V8 upfront that’s tucked in behind the front axle, rear-wheel drive, the added body rigidity of a fixed roof and a gnarly exhaust sound – what’s not to love about the Jaguar F-Type R?
Its five-liter supercharged V8, codenamed AJ133 has a displacement of precisely 5,000 cc and delivers no less than 550 hp (542 bhp) and 680 Nm (502 lb ft) of torque to the rear wheels via ZF’s 8HP transmission.
With a naught to 100 km/h (62 mph) acceleration time of 4.2 seconds, the F-Type R is no slouch in a straight line, but its electronically-controlled limited-slip differential was created with mind-blowing cornering abilities in mind.
With that being said, there is not a single car reviewer out there who – not even British – who would say that the Jaguar F-Type R is precision instrument, but a tire-shredding toy for big boys.
In order to put that conclusion to the test one more time, the peeps from PistonHeads recently took an F-Type R to the holy grail of circuits, one of the last remaining bastions of old-school track design – the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
With a GoPro strapped between the two seats and a thirst for hearing the raspy sound of that V8 under a heavy right foot, the resulting Nurburgring lap could only mean one thing and one thing only – sheer unadulterated audio and visual pleasure for the viewer. Bonus for those who will check out the entire lap, one of the greatest saves we’ve seen all week starts happening at around the 2:50 minute mark.
By Alex Oagana
VIDEO