Porsche 911 GTS vs Jaguar F-Type
A battle of the purist sports cars, both manual and both rear-wheel drive. That was the plan...
Aims are similar, numbers very different
Enter Porsche. The only manual 911 on its fleet at the moment is a GTS. A C4 with a price nearly double that of the Jag. Ah. A rear-driven Carrera 2 for a more honest comparison with the F-Type? Nearest available a GTS PDK. Costing £91,908 out of the box and £108,037 with options.
Fair test? Not even close. Oh well. Photographer and test track are booked anyway. Rude not to see what kind of comparison we can contrive.
Yes, it's possible we're a little obsessed with trying to nail that perfect F-Type versus 911 showdown. But even if you look at the top of the range and the seemingly comparable 550hp R AWD Coupe its £91,660 starting price is nearly £30K less than a 520hp 911 Turbo. That tempting overlap in the two ranges just isn't there, no matter how hard you look.
Have 18s ever looked this small?
Given they are so far apart in price is there anything to be gained in comparing them? We'll try. The character of the Jaguar is an interesting thing to consider, given it is at polar opposite to the ruthlessly efficient Porsche. This is a proper feelgood car, packed with little flourishes that will delight over casual acquaintance and long-term ownership alike. Those logo'd, pop-out door handles impress at a superficial level, for instance, while the free-revving and charismatic supercharged V6 feels more than enough even in 'base' 340hp trim. No harm that it sounds brilliant too, with a crisp rasp as the revs rise and just enough contrived crackling on lift-off to be amusing and not intrusive.
And as a manual it's just ... fun! Not the fastest, not the most nailed down and on a track it wouldn't see which way a Cayman, let alone a base Carrera, went. But it's eager to please and refreshingly straightforward.
The new electric steering is really impressive; typically Jaguar light it still feels predictable and tricks you into thinking the F-Type doesn't weigh as much as it does. The manual gearbox takes a little manhandling and appears almost an anachronism in a modern sports car but - yes - involves you in the action. And, by heck, does it like to go sideways. Which we'll return to in our verdict...
Nearly twice the price, automatic gearbox, 90hp more ... not much of a comparison is it really? Certainly Porsche has carefully managed the Carrera's transition from a car many of us still think is a £60-£70K purchase into one that actually costs £100K-plus with a few options.
Looks expensive, is expensive!
We've already discussed at length how Porsche's options strategy makes comparing one GTS with another - let alone rivals - very difficult. Suffice to say this one has all the toys, including the (standard for GTS) active engine mounts and Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus - the latter based around a proper electronically controlled locking diff comparable with that used by posher F-Types than the one we have here.
So you'll rightly feel pretty good about yourself having bought one. But if we look again at the only thing we can truly compare in these two cars - character - there's an aloofness in the Porsche akin to punching above your weight in a relationship. You put all the effort in with the GTS but it seems to think merely sharing its company is enough and doesn't seem to give much back.
PDK certainly dulls the connection, being seamlessly fast and smooth and blipping away nicely on downshifts. And the engine is beautifully linear in its delivery, thriving on revs and building to a seriously ferocious howl the further round the rev counter you go. You might want to keep an eye on the speedo too though - it's all so easy and the limits so distant you can record some very serious speeds without even prickling a single neck hair. Which leads us to...
It's no secret the Jaguar F-Type is a car built to shine in roadtests. If the natural instinct to back the home team isn't enough it'll flatter even the most ham-fisted hack with easily balanced slides, guaranteed to keep the picture desk happy. On the same corner, in the same hands, at comparable speeds and on the same day the Porsche doesn't want to know. It just goes faster. And faster. And faster, the PTV Plus delivering huge traction with just a smidge of understeer on the limit to dissuade you from pushing any harder. And yet even a lift won't provoke it. Blah - inert. Blah - aloof. Blah ... actually just bloody effective. Ooh look, have another pic of a Jag trailing lots of tyre smoke instead.
Thing is, the stuff that matters to your average insecure motoring hack isn't the same as what matters to owners weirdly not so fixated on chewing through tyres on a half-hourly basis. By that measure the 911, whatever the price difference, is the 'better' car.
But even if you don't drive everywhere on the lock-stops there's a sense modern Jaguar has a real understanding of the kind of messages keen drivers want from their cars, even when driven at more pedestrian speeds. The manual V6 is a bit of an old-school hooligan but you can have your F-Type four-wheel drive, auto shifting and as every day usable as any 911 too. If there is an England versus Germany battle here it's less at a specific price point and more at an emotional level. From Lotus to McLaren or Jaguar to Aston Martin, the cars being built here at the moment seem more in tune than anyone else's to the idea it's about more than just going fast, it's got to feel it too.
Compulsory sideways F-Type video...
Video: Drifting With A Jaguar F-Type Manual
PORSCHE 911 CARRERA GTS
Engine: 3,800cc 6-cyl
Transmission: 7-speed PDK, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 430@7,500rpm
Torque (lb ft): 325@5,750rpm
0-62mph: 4.4sec
Top speed: 190mph
Weight: 1,425kg (unladen)
MPG: 29.7mpg (NEDC combined)
CO2: 223g/km
Price: £91,098 (price as tested £108,037, comprising PDK gearbox £2,817, Black Leather & Carmine Red Interior GTS Package £2,234, Automatically dimming mirrors £372, PASM Sport Suspension £558, vehicle key painted £170, Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes £5,787, Bluetooth telephone module £558, Full LED Headlights incl. PDLS+ £1,032, ParkAssist front and rear £639, Cruise control £267 and Sports bucket seats with memory package £2,505)
JAGUAR F-TYPE COUPE
Engine: 2,995cc V6 supercharged
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 340@6,500rpm
Torque (lb ft): 332@3,500rpm
0-62mph: 5.7 sec
Top speed: 161mph
Weight: 1,567kg ('from')
MPG: 28.8mpg (NEDC combined)
CO2: 234g/km
Price: £51,260 (Price as tested £58,790, comprising Glacier White Paint £700, Panoramic Roof £1,250, Visibility Pack £1,075, Parking Pack £500, Seat Memory Pack 2 £1,150, Jaguar Smart Key System with Keyless start and Keyless entry £450, Heated Seats £350, Heated Steering Wheel £250, Valet Mode £150, dual zone automatic climate control £350, air quality sensing with auto recirculation £55, sports sun visor with mirror £50, red seatbelts £150, powered bootlid £450, Configurable Ambient Interior Lighting £250 and Cruise Control £350)
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Photos: Stuart Price
The 911 has just become the entry-level exotic now and there's simply too many of them on the roads to make them stand out in the way an exotic should.
Those F-Types are famed for the right noises, they look the business and if you're under 40 with one, you must be going places in life.
Either way for £60k the F type gets the nod from me, although personnaly would spend a little extra and get the Evora 400!
Porsche is not a £100k car in my mind, unless it has a GT3 badge on it!
Jag looks great, but IMO, the GTS is eye nectar of the highest order. Plus I prefer the sound to the V6 in the Jag (which I admit sounds LIGHTYEARS better than the V8)
Hang on, the base F-type (non S) doesn't come with a locking diff!? Hence it appears to be smoking the inside tire a-la an open differential?
Can we please get some PH reviewers that have the slightest clue what they are driving and talking about?
I recalled - incorrectly it turns out - all V6s have the mechanical locking diff and V8s get the active one. Belatedly checking (no excuses, day one failure) it seems the 340hp one we had won't have had it fitted and the mechanical diff is only on the V6 S. I have to confess, I did think it odd on the day the inside wheel was spinning up as much as it did but given its willingness to hold slides in a way no open diffed car I've driven before has and the fact I *thought* it had an LSD I just assumed it was one with a relatively mild lock-up ratio. Wrong, it seems. The R gets JLR's full Torque Vectoring By Braking system but I'll have to see if there's a more basic ESP-based brake nibbling system that diverts some power to the outside wheel that would contribute to the willingness to rotate under power.
Hands up, a double whammy there.
Now, if you'll excuse me there's a wall with my name on it.
Dan
Cant wait for the track day: caterham 1.4 v audi r18 e-tron quattro (high downforce spec) on the basis that they both have 2 seats....
Hopefully this design philosophy, that has brought us the GT86 and the F-Type (and means the MX5 stays as it is) keeps going. Cars have reached the point where most "performance" cars are capable of being easy to drive way beyond what is a safe speed on the road, so let's make them fun, rather than adding more and more speed and grip that you will never be able to use, as roads have tractors and junctions and other drivers round corners hat limit how fast is safe in any car.
A statement that cannot be applied to PH and usually rightly so. However if the words home team are deleted and Porscha added then it is most certainly true to the point of myopia though it seems it is subsiding in 2015.
Had a look through the options list and the type of extras you have to pay for the the prices to be paid are ridiculous, unless you are having a mid life crisis, work in the City or live in Chelsea. There are so many other more interesting cars that cost less than top of the range 911's. As for the idea that the 911 is more practical because it has rear seats. Try 30 mins in a rear seat.
Jag every time especially at that price differential.
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