The 2017 Jaguar F-TYPE SVR is the furthest thing from a moving van, but Jaguar managed to pack a lot into it. It’s got 575 supercharged horses under its hood, quilted leather in its cockpit, a lightweight Titanium and Inconel exhaust out back, and enough eye-catching aero add-ons to bring out your inner 10-year-old.
We here at JaguarForums are going to have to do some packing of our own. We have seven days to drive our Rhodium Silver review vehicle as much as possible (as long as we stay below Jaguar’s 500-mile limit) and discover how it behaves on busy city streets, open highways, and curvy back roads. The 2016 F-TYPE R was quite a character that we had the pleasure of meeting last year, so we’re expecting this $126,945 Special Vehicle Operations model to make an even stronger impression.
We’re also expecting some of you to have questions about our time with the F-TYPE SVR. If you do, feel free to ask them via Facebook at the bottom of this post, in the dedicated forum thread below, or on my personal Twitter page.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
