He-Man's battle cat

What we like:

Take my money good-looks paired with a dramatic soundtrack that will match an Italian supercar paired with the handling prowess to rival a Porsche 911.

What we dislike:

Certain bits of tacky plastic and faux carbon fibre in the interior.

The car seems always ready to kill understeer which is partly due to the in-built torque vectoring brakes. Even so, there’s an exquisite balance to the whole thing when you’re tossing it into a corner. Even if you over cook it, the F-type is quite polite about it and communicates plenty of warning cues to your bum before it finally lets go.

Jaguar chose right when they went with the 8-speed ZF gearbox so favoured by many manufacturers lately. And in the F-type, the gearbox hasn’t lost any of its sheen. Every input is met with a snap gearchange and a burble from the quad pipes in the back.

The F-type’s strength is in its versatility. Toggle the Adaptive Dynamics switch to Normal and the V8 Coupe settles into a pussy cat around town. The throttle retards enough for you not to light up the tires at every traffic stop while the ride settles into a pliancy that will mellow out most bumps. And if you’d like, the exhaust can be left in ‘orgasmic’ mode to relish in the pleasure of hearing that screaming V8 echo off buildings down Orchard Road. The ZF gearbox works brilliantly even in this comfort mode where it shifts swiftly, silently and without notice.

The only weakness we see in this package is in the Jaguar’s interior which lacks the quality and sophistication of the Porsche 911 it is priced against. It’s obvious that Jaguar have chosen to focus its effort on lavishing the F-type with the body of a goddess and other important bits like the drivetrain and handling and put the interior last on the to-do list.

While it might not be a recipe that would appeal to most, its price tag of $535,000 (18th December 2014) makes it a bargain for what you get in return. It is a gorgeous sports coupe that combines the fury and drama of an Italian supercar without twice the price tag and the handling prowess to match.

Credits: Story and Photos by Benjamin G. Kline