Well, Dan Neil was spot on.


My next fast car was going to be a Z06 or a 911. That changed yesterday when I heard and sat in the F-Type R Coupe at the local dealer.


I didn't get to drive it since it was a sold car.


Two questions, please.


How is the road noise at highway cruising speeds and what is the Vision Pack?


Thanks for your help.




I'm off to auction off a kidney...

 

At freeway speeds, there is some noise coming off the A-Pillar. You can hear it if you have the radio off or the active exhaust off. But it's not bad at all, nothing that bothers me. Honestly, only noticed it because of Chris Harris' review when he mentioned it.

The vision pack gives you adaptive headlights, backup cameras and parking sensors, blind spot monitoring. I don't think the VP is a must, depends on how confident you are at parking.

 

The sad thing about the Vision Pack is that once you have it, it becomes a must. It is so useful, you love it, and then when you don't have it, you miss it.

 

[QUOTE=shift;1040706]At freeway speeds, there is some noise coming off the A-Pillar. You can hear it if you have the radio off or the active exhaust off. But it's not bad at all, nothing that bothers me. Honestly, only noticed it because of Chris Harris' review when he mentioned it.

The vision pack gives you adaptive headlights, backup cameras and parking sensors, blind spot monitoring. I don't think the VP is a must, depends on how confident you are at parking.[/QUOTE

Yes, certainly agree with the noise assessment.. all told, a quiet car for its type, except of course when pushing it with the exhaust open.
I like the vision pack as a personal preference.. its come in handy a few times in tight spots.
Lawrence.

 

I love "good sounding" exhaust noise and so at speed, the sound even when heard is a good thing for me. It is prevalent but not annoying, in fact to me its rather intoxicating that even with lower rpm's the buzz is a prelude to a roar!!!

I would opt for the vision pack. I think the car still has great luxury points as well and this package or parts of it are on most cars (sports cars or GT cruisers) at this price point and even lower. I like it because I am so used to cameras in all my cars along with parking assist sensors and blind spot sensors. I do hate that when I pull my car into my garage I have to turn on the front sensor whereas my Porsche and Benz turn on automatically. Both Audis require manual activation also.

 

Gents, thank you all for your comments. :cheers:




Adaptive headlights are cool and add a great element of safety where I live.


Vic, I agree. The car has an awesome exhaust note.

 

+1 on the vision pack.

I was looking at a 911 Turbo and decided on the F-Type R instead. Not that the turbo isn't awesome - the Jag is just more unique and fun to drive in my opinion. Hard to beat for what you get for your money especially if you factor looks and exhaust note into the equation...

 

GH, I was pretty well set on a 911 3.8, normally aspirated.


When I went to the dealership yesterday (wife's 2010 needed routine service), that's when I saw the coupe.


It was a sold car and the guy traded in 2013 Carrera with 5,000 miles. The salesmen knew I was considering a 911 and offered me the car for $90K. It drove great and was/is basically a new car.


After I heard the F-Type, the 911 lust faded quickly, though.

 

Unless some huge reliability problems surface, I can't image you will be unhappy with an R. Good luck and let us know how it goes...

 

Reading this thread (and others) you may have to include your firstborn also..

 

As performance rides go, I'm able to have a decent conversation with my passenger/listen to tunes w/o having the volume cranked up. (I've had, and there are, worse noise merchants out there.) The question of road noise is another of those variables where words can sometimes fall short. If you can, drive it. I think you'd be pleasantly surprised.

 

I returned a 2014 GT3 to the Porsche dealer before I bought the F Type R. Road noise is definitely lower. P Zeros on the Jag may be significantly quieter than the Michelins on the GT3.

 

I've been on a road trip for the last 3 days in the coupe so have had a chance to experience long stretches driving with the car.

I think the key sources of noise in any car are:

1. Road/tire noise - not an issue with the coupe. Louder than most luxury sedans but lower than 911 or maserati.

2. Wind noise - to me this is the most annoying kind of noise in any car, and I've found that wind noise in the F type is very low. Maybe it's some combination of the low profile and small wing mirrors, but even with coastal California winds and at high speeds, I found the wind noise very low.

3. Noise from other cars - moderate. There is definitely sound insulation in the cabin, you can hear the effect of muffling. I would say moderately loader than an mb/bmw but definitely not intrusive on conversation. The small cabin helps because there is no real room for resonance or standing frequencies.

4. Engine noise. Of course the F type scores an A+ here. I drove with active exhaust on 90pct of the time, but have found that there is definitely a resonance curve to the sound. On the V6 it seems to hit peak resonance at around 3000rpm, so for any extended period around that rev range I tended to flip the exhaust off because after a while, in that range, it starts rattling your brains a bit.