All yall with a glorious F Type.. have you got (an)other car(s) that you use as your daily driver? Really very interested in a F type, but a thing holding me back is being able to drive it at ease in a fairly congested city with bumper to bumper traffic for about 25/30 min twice daily. City is not LA by any means, but not a rural straight in Montana or anywhere. Do you/would you feel comfortable doing that? Im just thinking this car is ideally suited for wide open straights, tunnels, twisties what have you, but may be tough to bumble along bumper to bumper. I would hate to see it damaged, how easy is it to control very light/slow driving along? I ask because when I test drove it, I loved it, and felt real oomph behind the pedal.. I'm coming from a XF 5 Liter with high 300 HP, which I have had for more than 5 years now, but know that the S or R is a serious bump up in terms of power.

On another note - I test drove a 15 rwd and a 16 awd back to back. Don't think it was enough time to really understand the differences. I think the awd is heavier, more grip, and is perhaps better at putting down power - is that correct? And the rwd involves more wheel spinning, looser tail, and is more enjoyable? I'm torn about this tradeoff.. Do you think the move towards AWD was just largely a result of auto regulators/industry trends pushing in that direction? Or is the AWD just better suited for this car? On the other hand, the RWD seems to represent this car's fun a bit more, epitomizing an enjoyable dramatic driving experience? What are your thoughts, love to hear them, particularly if you have driven both a good bit or even owned both at one time or another

 

I daily a V8S and absolutely love it. Combined highway/city driving, no issues with either. I always have it in sport+dynamic and shift manually using the paddles and don't mind it one bit. Leaving in auto would make it even easier. Only been in rain as there's no real weather in this part of Cali and honestly it's no problem. I dont know how anyone could complain about it unless they're being dumb. I have no issues with traction by just using my head and not flooring it from a stop when there's an inch of water on the road.

Go for it!

 

It's a great daily driver. 25 to 30 mins each way is nothing! If you're worried about ride comfort, get 18's.

 

If you are concerned about traffic in Asheville, just think about all the great driving nearby. The car is totally controllable at all speeds, if it isn't fun its the traffic, not the car.

 

Mine is a daily driver and much of my driving is in bumper to bumper city traffic, and it is no hassle at all, even tuned and in Dynamic all the time it's a doddle to creep along with the (lack of) flow. If you are at all worried about sudden throttle response then don't use Dynamic or maybe even put it in snow/ice mode. I have never used snow/ice mode but I understand it really dulls the throttle response, and seeing as I am a "press ahead" driver even in heavy traffic who takes every reasonable chance I can to get around the conga line of creeping snails where instant throttle response is called for I suspect snow/ice mode would be very frustrating.
One suggestion - the OEM brake pads can be very "grabby" in stop/go traffic, almost like an on/off switch, which makes smooth driving almost impossible. Swap the pads out for ceramics or Porterfield R4S to solve this problem and get nice smooth progressive braking (and waaaaaay less dust!).

 

Thanks everyone for your comments, glad to hear the car is daily-friendly. So oz - if it's in standard drive mode, it would likely be manageable? In a way, even though I would be slightly nervous at first, don't want to excessively tame the cat with snow/ice mode.. Haha agreed regarding snails.

Just mostly concerned about accidentally tapping into someone's back... I really hope that if you're not driving excessively agressively, and paying attention to who's in front, you don't do that. I hope not. Concerned about damage rather than lack of comfort. I like those cushiony cloudy seats in some cars, towncars and such but that's not too imporant to me right now. The visceral appeal of the car really is what makes me interested in the F.

 

I have a s5 for a daily. But you can totally daily the f type. I love just driving it around doing little errands. I find myself driving it more than my s5 because it's so enjoyable.

 

I forgot to add one more thing - the stop/start system can be a PITA for some in stop/go traffic (I don't know myself!) but it is real easy to permanently disable.
Different methods depending on the build date of the car, dual battery vs single battery, both fully explained on this forum.

 

Ah. Does it have the eco setting where it automatically turns off after a certain amount of idle/being stopped? I hope not..

 

It's just a car. Buy it, drive it. If you aren't paying attention in any car, you can cause a fender bender.

Yes, there is a button to shut it off.
​​​​​​​

 

The eco setting is on by default, and it stops the engine immediately the car stops, no "delay time".
Although there is a huge range of conditions where it doesn't work such as engine not warm yet, ambient temp too low, too much electrical load (lights + AC + sound system etc), battery not up to scratch and so on, all spelled out over a couple of pages in the Owner's Handbook.
As Mahjik says you can press a button to turn the system off, but every time you start the car it is back "on" again, so it soon becomes a chore remembering to turn it off every time you start the car, much better to permanently disable it.

 

 

It drives just like everything else in bumper to bumper traffic. The biggest difference is you smile more than the person in the car next to you.

If you have a tendency to listen to too much Metallica, there's rain/snow mode to help dampen your impulses.

 

As others have said, the F-Type is a real ***** cat when driven gently, it's happy to pootle along and it's a great place to sit in. Of course, when you want to, it can turn into a snarling beast, it's a real schizophrenic car! The only downside is that other drivers can admire your car while you have to look at their ugly vehicles ...

 

 

Mine is a daily driver and I couldn't be happier with it.

 

Ditto, in spades!

 

I dailied mine for a couple of years before I retired. On nice days, I'd take the long way home at high revs with the exhaust singing brilliantly.

 

I don't daily drive mine for a variety of reasons but it is quite capable of it and it's very versatile with all the different settings; goes from pussycat (snow mode) to beast (Dynamic, paddles, open baffles, TC off) by pressing a couple buttons.

As far as AWD vs. RWD is concerned; I purposely bought a RWD as I didn't want the extra weight and complexity of AWD and I like being able to "play" with the RWD sometimes. Rain, or heaven forbid, snow and I'd be singing a different tune but I don't drive my car in those conditions other than getting caught out in the occassional shower so I'm very happy with my RWD.

Dave

 

Mine is a daily driver. To be honest, it's not as good at that as my '16 eGolf was. The Golf had more technology, more creature comforts and being a commuter is what that car was born to do. I could not afford to keep an F-Type and another car, so the F-Type became my Daily Driver.

It's a throwback. The infotainment system is not as good as the one I had in my '08 Audi. It's simpler. It's using a post maul instead of a ball peen and I could not be happier. I have Zero regrets about making the F-Type my only car.