In 2013 I was pleasantly surprised the V8S convertible took 4th place, losing to an R8 V10+, SLS AMG BS, and 991 C4S.

2013 Motor Trend Best Driver's Car - Motor Trend All Pages

The 2014 results are in next week. They have a little promo video showing the F-Type Coupe R


Where do you think the R will rank? I can't seeing it beating 4th place. Competition is stiff,

ford fiest st
subaru WRX
BMW i8
BMW m4
nissan GTR
porsche 911
jaguar F-type
chevrolet camaro z28
Alfa romeo 4c
VW GTI

M4, 911 Turbo S and GTR Nismo seems like lock. Think the lighter Alfa and the better bang for buck Camaro will be hard to beat. So I'm thinking around 6th for the F-Type Coupe R.

 

Nice to see the F-type back. Will be cool to see how the R fairs in the drag race compared to the V8S from last year which got a 12.1 in the 1/4 mile.

Of those listed I would take the i8, F-type or 4c. They are the only ones that don't look like thousands of other vehicles on the road.

 

Looks like Laguna Seca and the Monterey Peninsula to me...

 

Agree it does look like Laguna Seca although the shot of all the cars lined up together in a drag race looks like the old El Toro Marine base (now know as the Great Park in Irvine). That's where they usually film stuff like that. My office is next to the Great Park.

 

You're probably right there, that part didn't look familiar, there's no airstrip like that around here...

 

Yup, they do the drag race in El Toro, then bring the cars up to highway 198(?) in central coast for some road handling, then to Laguna Seca for track.

Incidentally, Road and Track also has the F-Type in the 2014 Performance Car of the Year test out soon...that will be stiff competition as well, things like Ferrari 458 Speciale!

http://kinja.roadandtrack.com/these-...-ca-1631445916

 

Driven Porsches, Corvettes, Lotuses, Ferraris, the Jag XK, and I have to say when I put my V6-S in Dynamic Mode it feels so tight and anxious to scald the curves, you realize Jag made a terrific driving car.

 

The Jag F-Type R has not won a single shoot out, and it does not fair well as a drivers car ( I came from a 2011 Porsche Boxster Spyder which swept categories in 2011 ). That said, it has all the right balances across the board. It looks better than arguably every car in both drivers and performance, definitely sounds the best, is faster than most in a straight line in both categories, and price wise sits somewhere in the middle. It is in a word balanced. If anything it could lose a few hundred pounds, outside of that it's fantastic all round, just not the best in any single category. Top 10 in each category which makes for a superb vehicle.

 

That trues. No head-to-head competition/review has the F-Type on top but they all love it. I remember the Goodwood 911 (991) Turbo S vs F-Type R hill climb review...to paraphrase, "We'd choose the F-Type, knowing the 911 is a better car."

 

Win or lose a magazine test the jaguar f type coupe is a masterpiece.

Who cares about that last tenth of a lateral g......or whatever metric some other sports car might exceed the jaguar...

It's just so dam beautiful and ultimately a high performance player...

The differences in any performance metric are moot.

Just my opinion...

Still I look forward to the results of the various comparisons.

 

The Coupe R's hot lap time is in...1.2 seconds SLOWER than last year's V8S convertible! 1:42.01 vs 1:40:81 at Laguna Seca with same driver. I would think with a little more power, stiffer chassis and carbon ceramic brakes (the vert from the photos didn't have it) the Coupe R would be basically the same or slightly faster. Don't ever recall a Coupe being slower than a convertible for any car so I'm a little confused...

 

That is pretty surprising. It sounds like the constant controlling of oversteer slowed the lap down. No doubt a fun fun way to get around a track, but obviously not the fastest method. Sounds a lot like the problems the tire shreading SLS has.

Here's the full list of times:
1. Nissan Nismo GT-R - 1:35.51
2. Porsche 911 Turbo S - 1:35.62
3. Chevy Camaro Z/28 - 1:37.82
4. BMW M4 - 1:39.69
5. Jaguar F-Type R Coupé - 1:42.01
6. Alfa Romeo 4C - 1:43.78
7. BMW i8 - 1:44.29
8. Subaru WRX STI - 1:47.16
9. Volkswagen GTI - 1:50.11
10. Ford Fiesta ST - 1:51.25

 

Something ain't right... The XKRS did it in 1:42.9 2 years earlier..... ?!?!?!?

 

Really wish the V6 S would also get a spin!!

 

From reading the various experiences of those who have tracked the R and have reported on its penchant for drifting, not surprisingly I can see slower laps, relatively speaking. But yeah, that is some gap between #4 (M4) and the R at #5. With all that grunt, I wonder if the electronic diff could dial-in sufficient locking to improve exit speeds with softer R-comps. Or would they too go up in smoke.

 

So the results are in. Makes absolutely no sense to me. The Coupe R places 9th. Last year's Convertible places 4th. Not sure what happened. They had a change of heart? Stiffer competition? The bigger surprise for me was the Camaro Z/28 winning. Every review basically says the car is not streetable. It's basically on race tires! So best bang for the buck track car, yes! But how can it win best driver's car when 99% of driving is done on normal streets?

 

I'm not that surprised as the reviewers tend to think in terms of racing and track and likely cost and perhaps they prefer North American built cars as well, although I'm not sure of that. Many years ago this magazine was very slanted to the N.A. car.
Those of us who have owned or driven many of these cars that they tested would know that for shear pleasure and looks the F type R is fabulous.
Lawrence.

 

did they test 1/4 mile and 0-60 times on the R?

 

I wouldn't mind if they had a best weekend track car edition. But no point in calling it best driver's car competition and comparing an i8 or Ford Fiesta ST against a stripped out Z/28 on race tires (even if they are OEM race tires).

 

They'll probably release the drag race clips next week.