Picked her up yesterday! Drove back 600 miles. Mostly straight freeways but a couple of winding stretches of fun. I'll give my initial impressions versus a 2013 Porsche 911 Carrera (991 non-S).

Looks and Styling

Most people will probably say the F-Type looks much better than the 911 but I actually really like the way the new 911s (type 991) look. In isolation, I prefer the looks of the 911. But 911s are fairly common, so they kind of just blend in. This is true of any car. Ironically, while the rear engine of the 911 is iconic, it's the rear styling of the F-Type Coupe that sold me. That *** is just amazing. The F-Type also has some very nice, detailed styling cues like the door lines and the running lights. Love the J-Blade running lights versus the 911s running lights. Overall, I give the edge to the Jaguar for the "wow, look at that ***" factor.

Power, Sound

Really unfair comparison. 350 HP vs 550 HP, 287 lb-ft vs 502 lb-ft. You really have to get the 911 revving to have any fun (which I suppose is part of the fun). Sound of the F-Type is amazing. I won't say much more about this because it's so night-and-day.

Transmission

Really unfair comparison. The PDK dual clutch is amazing, making the ZF 8 speed feel so inadequate and sluggish. If Jaguar can somehow get their hands on a good dual clutch it would make the F-Type so, so much better. No idea why all the reviews rave about the ZF 8 speed.

Steering

The F-Type R steering is much better. I was pretty disappointed with the 911's steering. Won't say it's because they switched to electronic, all I know is I didn't like it and the F Type has better feel.

Handling/Ride

The 911 feels more nimble, tossable. Can definitely feel the weight of the F Type R. But this weights makes the F Type more stable at high speeds. The 911 (stock built-in spoiler) frankly felt a little nervous about 130 mph. The F Type feels like it has more traction and grip in corners. In the 911 I also felt I was sliding a little too much. I know I wasn't actually sliding in the corners but that sensation was there. Will hold out final judge for now until I get to drive it hard in the backroads.

Navigation/Radio/Electronics

The PCM (Porsche Communication Management) is much, much better. The system in the Jaguar is 10 years outdated. The CPU must be super slow. You press a selection and it takes 2 seconds for the screen to update. The navigation interface is horrible. The radio controls are horrible. Connecting to Android phone via Bluetooth doesn't work (iPhone/iPad works fine). Dream come true if they eventually do a software/firmware upgrade because the system is really bad/slow. However, the F Type sound system is much better than the Bose in the 911 in terms of sound quality. The Bose system felt like a standard audio system, nothing special.

Seats, Cabin, Interior

The Jaguar has better seats, more positioning control. I had the 14-way seats in the 911 and prefer the Performance seats in the R. I prefer the German design interior of the 911. Yes, it's a little bland, but things just felt cleaner, less cluttered. I give the slight edge to the Porsche.

Misc

I miss the comfort entry/exit of the 911 (automatically raises the steering column, lowers the seats when you exit). Miss the simplicity of the steering wheel controls on the 911. The F-Type has too much going on with the steering wheel controls. Like the auto parking brake disengage in the F-Type. The ambient lighting is nice edgy touch.

If I was in the market for a $100-$110 sports car, it'd be a tough decision, especially if I never had a 911 before. But really glad Jaguar came out with the F Type to make Porsche push the 911 even more.

 

Very interesting. This'll be helpful for other buyers.

Also, a picture says a thousand words and that picture is pure sex.

 

I have 3 memory setting buttons in my XK, I will have the same in my F-Type Coupe.
I set everything as I want it for entry/exit and use the 3rd setting button. It serves as an alternative entry/exit feature.

I miss the comfort entry/exit of the 911 (automatically raises the steering column, lowers the seats when you exit).

 

Great write up. Thanx.

 

slight correction, I just read the manual and saw that there's an "auto" mode for the comfort exit/entry. it's apparently not in the normal controls, you just have to switch it to auto on the steering control!

 

I came from two 997s which are more old school than the 991 but also more connected and I personally found the F is the better car. All these things are subjective but I don't find the ZF (and Jaguar's implementation of the ZF) to be markedly inferior to the PDK. PDK is a great transmission, but so is the ZF 8 speed. It gets a lot of plaudits because it's a decent transmission. You have to remember that PDK replaced the old Tiptronic which wasn't all that good. I don't know how hard you've been able to drive the car given that it only has 600 miles on it, but like PDK the ZF box does respond well to aggressive driving and it holds its own as far as I'm concerned.

 

Yup, I have the steering wheel retract when I get out. Helpful, as it's not easy to get out of!

 

On the phone connection that could be your phone, I'm using Windows phones with no issue and I had an Android test phone and I didn't notice an issue with it either. The Bluetooth stack is pretty consistent on current generation phones now.

 

I think you're right. After the latest Android update my LG G2 has had some Bluetooth issues.

 

Oh yeah...congrats on the new car.

 

Yes. The XK has that also, but it still does not move the seat back.

 

Haven't driven it too hard. Did take her out earlier today for a little more spirited driving. I do agree with the reviews that the ZF does hold the right gear. During spirited driving I never was frustrated it didn't pick the proper gears/was in the wrong gear. Of course it helps to have so much torque. I suppose my disappointment is in auto drive mode it doesn't indicate which gear it's in, just a "D" or "S". I want to know what gear it's in even if if it's not in manual mode. The shifts itself is good but the PDK shift is just a very, very high bar.

 

[QUOTE=schraderade;1019256]
Also, a picture says a thousand words and that picture is pure sex..QUOTE]

Oh man is it ever! I simply cannot wait for my Polaris White coupe to arrive...that picture just put a huge smile on my face...and totally reinforced why I chose this color,especially with the black pack...thank you for posting!

 

I have a DSG in my M3 and I agree that I fail to see why people rave about the ZF tranny fitted in modern cars. Ruins a very dynamic driving experience. Felt rather meh because of that tranny after my test drive.

 

Intel will make Jaguar/Land Rover's next generation infotainment systems. I actually emailed Jaguar a few weeks ago when I was looking to buy an F-Type asking them when the new Intel based system would be available for the F-Type but they couldn't give me an exact date. I would guess in the 2016 model.

 

[QUOTE=buickfunnycar.com;1019574]here's an *** shot to hold you over. had to get it smog because I brought it in from another state.

 

Put another couple of hundred miles on her last couple of days...some followup:

Power/Torque

Wow! There might be such a thing as too much power. Just a tap on the gas and you're easily doing 100mph without realizing it. In the 991 C2 you have to work at it. The 991 C2S might be the sweet spot in terms of usable power. I find it odd that Jaguar didn't do 3 more evenly spaced trims in the coupe. Maybe 380, 450, 550 instead of jumping from 380 to 550. Of course, I'll probably get used to the power and be back proclaiming I want a RS version!

Ride/Handling

Did get a chance to take it to some winding roads for about 45 mins. Handles great, feels very planted. Surprisingly, didn't really feel the weight while blasting around too much. The shifts were good but honestly with so much torque, on public roads it's difficult to really say you're in the wrong gear. Braking was good but wasn't as straight on slightly uneven road as the 991. Maybe that's where the weight comes in. Still very straight but I'm nitpicking here.

On a rolling freeway stretch near my house I didn't like the suspension setup. Here I think the weight is too much and it felt like there was too much vertical movement from the weight's momentum when going at 90+ mph.

Misc

The audio/info/nav system isn't as bad as I made it out to be initially. Yes, it still lags and feels a little outdated, but as I'm getting to it, it's fine.

The power tailgate is awesome! There was a thread about how it's useless. Wrong, I love it. Very convenient when you got your hands full.

The seats seem to trap a lot of heat. I find my back hotter than in the 991 seats. Anyone else find the seats trapping too much body heat?

Never had so many people give me the thumbs up. I drive the 991 around, maybe get a "nice car" here and there, but in just 4 days I've gotten so many people giving me the thumbs up, chasing me down to get a look at the car. It really does sir up the emotions. There was a review that said it best, "we'd pick the F-Type R over the 911, knowing the 911 is a better car."