Jaguar F-Type Coupe - believe the hype?

Seems everyone loves the F-Type Coupe; will a track pasting show up any weak points?

Does the Jaguar F-Type Coupe really live up to the hype? For all the column inches on PH we poor souls back at the office haven't actually spent much time in Convertible or Coupe, or even driven the latter on UK roads.

Peaceful countryside, soon to be less peaceful

Having booked the Coupe in with the intention of addressing this most pertinent point I do the obvious thing and immediately drive it to Germany. UK driving impressions nailed with a brief squirt up the M20 (no issues to report) I then settle down to the schlep across Belgium. Go on, guess where I'm heading...

Yes, the bloody Nurburgring. The F-Type in more capable hands than mine has lapped it in 7min 39sec, the slap of heads hitting hands across the land at yet more 'ring lap time bearding audible as I type. At this point I'd usually offer some sort of mitigation that comparisons with Cup-shod GT3s aren't really relevant.

Head in hands
Only they are, because I'm on my way to the Destination Nurburgring track day to drive the F-Type in the company of ... lots of Cup-shod GT3s. I'll not pretend I'll be anywhere near that 'official' time but it'll be interesting to see if a hefty GT really can cut it as a track tool tool. Sure, it'll turn heads at 50 paces, ignite its tyres in the name of video-based entertainment at the drop of a hat and the exhaust noise will do funny things to the pit of your stomach but is there real substance behind the showmanship?

Even Belgium looks good from in here

Selflessly I've set myself the goal of finding out.

A measured amble across Belgium and France gives plenty of time to reflect on the resurgence of the traditional sporting coupe. Wasn't so long ago such cars seemed to be going the way of the dinosaurs but the F-Type is the first of a new crop of big-engined, rear-driven coupes combining GT style with genuine supercar performance. As the Porsche 911 quietly becomes, to all intents and purposes, a £100K purchase the market £20K either side of this significant benchmark is suddenly getting very interesting.

New breed
The F-Type has already set a very high bar and soon to follow we have the Mercedes-AMG GT, the engine for which will underpin a new generation of Aston Martins to replace the long-serving (but still rather lovely) Vantage range. Meanwhile Maserati has confirmed production of the Alfieri and with existing Ferrari built V6 and V8 twin-turbos from the Quattroporte has the powerplants to create a compelling F-Type rival. It's basically a 21st century revival of the classic era of 50s sporting GTs, about which you'll hear few complaints from us.

Of the four the Eco button is least relevant

Evidently the Jag is bursting with feelgood factors and people just love it. Ian Callum most definitely had A Good Day on this one, the broad shouldered stance powerful without being overblown and retro references restrained enough not to look like lazy pastiche. Favourite details include the chromed C-pillar trim that looks simple in profile but in the three-quarter reveals a flowing three-dimensional line into the rear arches. Beneath the world's most pointless power-operated boot lid - that's £450 you don't need to spend - there's even a respectable amount of space too.

You can see where the budget was used up on the interior though; the rubberised paddle switches and neat heating and ventilation controls are an aesthetic and tactile delight but some of the older parts bin switchgear is showing its age. The panoramic glass roof is lovely though, the seats are comfy and once mobile devices and Bluetooth have kissed and made up the stereo is mighty. It's almost - almost - enough to make driving across Belgium a pleasant experience. So savage is the power delivery I end up leaving it in manual to prevent it hunting around the gearbox and even run for a while in the winter mode, the softened throttle response more appropriate for mooching on the motorway.

Thoughts of playing it straight go up in smoke

Stiff challenge
There are some secondary thumps on expansion joints and potholes but the exemplary body stiffness - Jaguar is especially proud of the 33,000Nm/degree torsional rigidity - means the springs and dampers can really work to their fullest. It's not plush exactly but there's a foursquare fluency to the ride and balance to the control weights that speaks volumes of the calibration. The weighting at the wheel varies at speed but there's an honesty and linearity about the rack and outputs that make a refreshing change from all these 'clever' electrically assisted systems.

At the track I get a couple of sighting laps in the Jag before swapping to, of all things, a Radical for my first properly paced ones. This ends up being a more emotional experience than intended - full story to follow - so by the time I get back in the F-Type I'm ready for a bit of a man hug before getting stuck back in. And that's exactly what the F-Type provides.

For all the wildman reputation and the brutal stats the F-Type will meet your mood and play accordingly. For my first few laps I'm happy to use Dynamic mode for crisper damping, a sharper throttle and snappier gearbox responses but leave everything else on. In this setting it'll rev out to the soft limiter, manual shifts slotting in quickly and on demand. It's as good as anything with dual clutches and entirely appropriate to the car. I'm surprised at how little action there is from the DSC light but Jaguar policy on its more sporting models is to tidy up clumsier inputs with intelligent use of the active diff and Torque Vectoring by Braking (introduced on the coupe) than reactive interventions from stability control.

For a lardy GT it does pretty well here

Hold on tight
It is ruddy fast though. On flat and downhill sections of the 'ring track knowledge and confidence count as much as horsepower and, frankly, a gently trailing throttle is more than sufficient. It's on the uphill bits where the 550hp really makes its presence felt. Well, they look uphill and your brain says there should be a corresponding impact on acceleration. But the Jag doesn't seem bothered.

Special mention at this point needs to go to the CCM ceramic brakes, admittedly a £7,400 option but one that gives last of the late braker confidence as well as a meaningful 21kg saving in unsprung weight. There aren't many big stops at the 'ring but those that are there are very big ones at the approach speeds the R carries. There's a 'High Performance' tyre option of Conti Force Contacts but the standard P Zeroes hold up to the abuse impressively too, the ability to stand the car on its nose on the brakes and immediate rear-axle response to throttle inputs meaning you can easily neutralise understeer. From the constantly adjusting dampers to the interaction with the active diff and stability control there's a lot of clever stuff going on in the background but it never feels intrusive.

CCM brakes make a big difference

Confidence growing I select the Trac DSC setting and instantly the F-Type feels more confident and mobile, as if a death grip on the wheel has been suddenly relaxed. It's a little inconsistent in how much it'll let you slide under power - some times a lot, sometimes not at all - but it at least gives you a sense of how the car will behave with everything off. Which happens a lap or two later. At which point large amounts of the Eifel region are cloaked in tyre smoke.

Number 11s
For all the rampant reputation you can actually drive it tidily and the broad traction window is, um, transparent. As you'd kind of hope a window would be. Inevitably things start getting a bit silly as the confidence grows and the number 11s on corner exits become longer and more extravagant. Even in showboating mode the F-Type is monstrously fast, wickedly noisy and an absolute riot. Is it really a GT3 chaser? In raw pace, yes. In its ability to soak up huge bites out of the kerbs and predictability ditto. It has a softness at the extremes a more track focused car would lack. But the ability to lap at this pace without sacrificing the luxuries to make Belgian motorways an acceptable place to spend time is astonishing. Think of it in terms of facial expression. Do you want to lap with a racer's steely gaze and furrowed brow? Or guffaw in a car that's all back slaps and high fives?

Snappy calibration for eight-speed auto

The limitations to all this fun - and the point where a proper track optimised car waltzes off into the sunset - are later revealed at the GP track. A week night opening with no briefing, a mix of bikes and cars and drivers ranging from the committed to the possibly lost on the way home from work is an odd place to find yourself but all of a sudden the Jag's burly kerbweight ('from' 1,665kg according to spec) and road bias prove limiting factors. Multiple hard stops from significant three-figure speeds into tight corners and suitably exuberant exits mean, respectively, smouldering brakes and an overheated diff with accompanying smoke and warning lights as the 15-minute session ends. A bit of freewheeling around the car park to cool off calms things but it's clear the F-Type can get a bit of a sweat on in conditions better left to the boys with cages and Cup tyres.

This doesn't detract from what's been a pretty formidable demonstration. Yes, it's brutal in noise and raw performance. But there's more depth to it than expected and it's surprised and delighted all who've ridden in it.

Sorry if you were expecting a stinging counterpoint.

JAGUAR F-TYPE COUPE V8 R
Engine: 5,000cc, V8, supercharged
Transmission: 8-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 550@6,500
Torque (lb ft): 502@2,500
0-62mph: 4.0 sec
Top speed: 186mph (electronically limited)
Weight: 1,665kg
MPG: 25.5mpg (claimed)
CO2: 259g/km
Price: £83,340 (basic list, c. £99,000 as tested - approximate configuration with options prices here)