2012 Paris Motor Show: New Jaguar F-Type Sports Revealed

Like we reported you earlier, Jaguar has finally revealed the all new F-Type at Paris Motor Show today and confirmed the complete details of this two-seater, convertible sports car. The all new F-Type will hit UK showrooms by May next year; a coupe version too will be launched later.

The two-seater, convertible sports car represents a return to the company’s heartland, focusing on performance, agility and driver involvement. The F-TYPE is a continuation of a sporting bloodline stretching back more than 75 years. It encompasses some of the most beautiful, thrilling and desirable cars ever built.

Adrian Hallmark, Global Brand Director, Jaguar said: “Jaguar is a founder member of the sports car segment with a rich sporting bloodline stretching over 75 years, and in the F-TYPE we’ve reignited that flame. The F-TYPE isn’t designed to be like anyone else’s sports car. It’s a Jaguar sports car – ultra-precise, powerful, sensual and, most of all, it feels alive.”

Featuring the most advanced iteration of Jaguar’s acclaimed rigid and lightweight aluminium architecture to date, the F-TYPE has ideally balanced weight distribution that allows its involving rear-wheel drive dynamics to be explored to the full. Utilising extensive Computer Aided Engineering programmes, the attention to detail involved in the F-TYPE’s creation even extended to the development of a new, lighter, aluminium front subframe.

Moreover the F-TYPE features all-aluminium double wishbone front and rear suspension and a quick-ratio steering rack for ultimate responsiveness. The aluminium architecture has been optimised to provide the stiffest possible underpinnings for the suspension with rigidity gains of more than 30 per cent in key areas compared to any other Jaguar application.

New Jaguar F-Type Variants

Jaguar F-TYPE: Supercharged 3.0-litre V6, 335bhp

Jaguar F-TYPE S: Supercharged 3.0-litre V6, 375bhp

Jaguar F-TYPE V8 S. :5.0-litre V8, 488bhp

The F-TYPE has a set of eight closely-spaced, sporting ratios in its Quickshift transmission, giving greater driver control. The V6-powered S model also includes a Dynamic Launch feature, which optimises acceleration from rest.

Taking inspiration from the C-X16 concept unveiled in 2011, the front of the F-TYPE features a new interpretation of the bold angular Jaguar grille from which flows the muscular clamshell bonnet with its signature ‘power bulge’. The all important heartline begins its journey in the blade dissecting the shark-like gills on either side of the grille before leading the eye to the top of the front wing, emphasised by the bi-xenon headlamp and integral LED daytime running lights, into the door and towards the rear of the car where it gracefully disappears.

Its journey is taken up at this point by the second heartline which swells out to form the muscular rear haunch before sweeping dramatically around the sensual low tail, made possible by the inclusion of an active rear spoiler which deploys at speed to reduce lift by up to 120kg. Full LED rear lamps create a new Jaguar sports car signature by reinterpreting classic cues from the past and, by wrapping around to the trailing edge of the rear wheelarch, emphasise the powerful stance of the car and its rear-wheel drive sporting potential.

The focus on driver involvement and sporting performance in the F-TYPE is emphasised by the ‘one plus one’ layout of the asymmetric cabin. This is evidenced by the grab handle which sweeps down the centre console on the passenger side, delineating it from the driver’s position. Further differentiation is provided by the use of different trim materials either side of the cabin, with a more technical finish on the driver’s side.

Taking inspiration from cockpits of fighter airplanes, the controls are ergonomically grouped by function. Further aeronautical inspiration can be found in the joystick-shaped SportShift selector controlling the eight-speed transmission. The air vents on top of the dashboard will only deploy when instructed to by either the driver or complex control algorithms, staying tucked discreetly out of sight in other circumstances.

Ian Hoban, Vehicle Line Director, Jaguar said: “With the F-TYPE, the Jaguar engineering team focused on delivering greater dynamic driving reward than ever before. To make that a reality, every engineer has had very tough targets to hit: every one of those targets has been met and, in many cases, exceeded, making the F-TYPE a car that delivers precisely the key sporting attributes that we intended.” The F-TYPE will be available OTR for £58,500, the F-TYPE S for £67,500 and the F-TYPE V8 S for £79,950*

CarDekho has been the fortunate one to get to see the Sports car closely and attend its special technical training, so you can read our Feature Story based on that experience to know the car more closely.