Hi everyone, after reading some great threads about members' journeys with their F-Type here and going through absolutely all pages of the picture thread I am ready to ask my questions to those who would know best: you!

I've been driving my only car for almost 15 years now and its days are counted I fear. It is a small sports car that I love driving and I am genuinely amazed at how much I love it every time I use it (every weekend for hourly drives). Have been looking around a bit for the last months and what I wanted to spend went from around (I'll use USD for reference) 15K to 100K.
I am almost certain I want to get the F-Type because it looks great outside and inside, because it sounds great, because there are not so many around, and because I want to treat myself.
I would be spending a big chunk of my savings, which is why I need some experienced advice from owners to decide on whether I should spend 20K more simply to get the AWD version. So:

I have tried 4 versions so far (because only the last one was the version I would actually go for - the first with AWD in price range) and I know that the 380PS AWD has more than enough power for me.
It is very likely that the 340PS version would also be sufficient for me.
However, I live in Switzerland and I make at least trips from north to south of the country every two weeks through the often rainy and snowy highway through the Gotthard tunnel. In case you don't know, I would say for about 4-5 months a year 50-100 km have salt on the streets because it snows in that period.
Having read somewhere here someone worry about the rust factor on the aluminium chassis (I know next to little about this), is this a car you would drive on this kind of road to often, or is it a bit of a certain slow death?

Secondly, there are regular badly-done parts of the roads where there are water puddles, not sure if that qualifies as acquaplaning but with my car I sometimes get the bejeezus scared out of me when passing on them at high speeds: does the AWD really make a difference on average/lightly snowy roads, and rainy roads? Does it warrant spending 20K more on the car for it? Given that it looks like chains on this car are not really an option, if one switches to winter tyres and has AWD, should I really consider this extra investment?

As for looks and options I only need to decide if I want to do an R-Dynamic version simply to get the bottom parts more showy (not too bothered with the rest). Color is most definitely going to be Loire Blue with the black packs inside and out, and black alloys as well. I would actually consider the IRR (wondeful photos seen on here) but sadly retired color.

Any advice is welcome and yes, I would get this as my only car, and plan to only use it on the weekends, because that's actually the only time I use it. Thanks!

 

I don’t believe the base version comes in AWD, so you have to buy at least the R-Dynamic 380hp. If you want to drive the F-Type throughout Switzerland in the winter, I would think AWD would be the wisest choice. “Rust” should not be an issue on an aluminum car. The surface may oxidize,but that layer of oxidation actually serves to protect against further deterioration. Just rinse the salt off the bottom of the car on a regular basis.

 

You can also go with all season or change to snow tires such as Bridgestone to cover the coldest months.