I'm a new member and hopefully soon to be a new F type owner in Malibu,Ca
Still trying to decide between the S and R. My first sports car--and what a car it's gonna be!

I searched the forum and couldn't really find the information I wanted. Hope some of you can help or suggest how to orient my search on the site.

Really concerned about front ground clearance...I had my salesman bring an F type over to the house to check clearance on my driveway. Not a problem if slow while angling in and out.

Is this gonna be a steep learning curve...Negotiating speed bumps, dips in intersections, parking lot stoppers, standard driving, etc.?

What do I need to start paying attention to so I don't wreck my front spoiler-create damage?

Will larger tires (20") help?

Thanks for your experience and inputs

 

I have the R, and ground clearance is always a concern, not necessarily a problem. Most driveways have to be approached slowly and diagonally, and don't expect to clear curbs when parking--stop before you ordinarily would. You are not in a SUV.

 

Just to show how bad it is in LA, you will scrape your a Aston on the way out of the dealership. Guess they just get it out of the way early. I had a mercedes SLK which was quite low and I scraped on everything. I think the clearance was only 4" or so. Now with my TT-RS I have found that after 2 years I've only scraped a couple times. The clearance is much better, short overhang. When comparing the TT-RS and the F-type at the dealer, it seemed that the F-type was a little lower but not by much.

Tips I can give:
Always park short. Don't feel that you need to go all the way to the parking stopper. I saw a Ferrari F12 beached on one the other day. Devastating to look at.

Always leave a parking lot, driveway at an angle, and slowly.

Do NOT drive over fallen palm leaves. They are chunks of hard wood, not soft like leaves.

Watch for gradual curbs when exiting some businesses. I actually got caught by one of these. The road looks flat, made a right but the road gradually separated from the curb and in making the turn I scraped my back bumper on it.

 

I can tell you that it's pretty good for a sports car. It'll scrape sometimes but in general the F Type has better ground clearance than the Toyota Prius and many many other sports cars. I think Jaguar did as well as they could with a performance vehicle which necessarily has to be lower to the ground. It's just one of the sacrifices you'll have to make with these impractical machines.

 

You will scrape so go slow and angled. But scraping isn't as bad a problem as parking curbs. Stop short and dont open doors against curb side if you are not sure. The parking sensor is useful for the front parking curbs.

 

Where I live, some of my neighbours drive super tractors to work. Yet to have any problems, but I did watch someone rip the front bumper off their Audi Allroad on a kerb while parking last Saturday.

If you don't treat it like an SUV, you'll be fine. Or, I can recommend a few makes of super tractor that won't have a problem with pot holes, speed bumps, kerbs, full size cars, or small houses...

 

You shouldn't have any problems if you angle in and out of steep drive ways and go slow over speed bumps. Be careful of those wheel stops in parking lots, the front air splitter will hit those, and you'll be dealing with a long nose.

Also BTW, there is no difference in ground clearance, whether you have 18, 19, or 20 inch wheels and tires. The smaller wheels have taller tire sidewalls, which make up for the extra inch or two.

 

I live in a high construction area and haven't run into issues. I hit at one point leaving a bad spot (on a country road actually), but even then it is just cheap plastic aero bits that take the hit - life goes on.

My R8 scraped way more, and that was carbon fiber bits, so it sounded way more expensive.

As noted above - careful of the doors and curbs.
Also, should be obvious, but if someone is getting into the car - and the door clears the curb prior to them getting in... it might not once they get in and the car responds to their weight - leaving a door stuck.
In other cars I've had this and the moron just tried harder to shut the door - wanted to kill them.

 

I have only had my car for a very short time and there is a definite learning curve on judging distance, parking and avoiding potential scrapes, however, it is not as bad as I thought. Great advice from the members above!

 

Also be careful parking along side curbs (parallel parking). I have an XF and you still need to be careful with the same issues as the F-type.

 

It's not too bad. My V6-S does not scrape as much as my previous XK, or my Lotus Esprit, and my father's 2012 Corvette is worse too. I would say the F-Type is better than most sports cars. Hope that was helpful.

 

This is an older thread, but I wondered if whosedream bought the car, and if scraping in an out of driveways and speed bumps ever became a problem? I am worried about the same thing pre-purchase. I have a cadillac that scrapes the air dam, but not the painted part of the car and just a little on the plastic splitter. The f-type looks lower with overhang. This could be a deal killer.

 

I do extreme angle in my R to prevent scraping. It is the plastic 'expendable' spoiler that gets torn up. I installed some clear plastic door edge guards onto the left and right side bottom of the 'expendable' spoiler to keep it from getting damaged in case I end up on a driveway that causes a scape. So far so good. The edge guards are not that noticeable. This is similar to what I used

 

Hey 355rockit, could you possibly post a pic? How did you attach the edge guards? And specifically what product did you use, if not the one that you referenced on amazon.com?

Thanks.

 

Great idea! Thanks.

Frenchy, I'm pretty sure he's talking about these or similar product. They're also available at any auto parts store, but usually in black, which would be perfect.

Door Edge Guards | ProtektoTrim? | Cowles Products

 

My FTR isn't too low, but as has been mentioned before the AWD ride height is higher than the RWD models. You just need to be careful and angle your way into and out of places with steep inclines/declines.

Unless there is something different about the F-Type, you should also be able to raise the vehicle a small amount using the stock adjustment bolts if you really feel the need.

 

I was unable to find the box, but it is similar to the link I posted. It just slides on and keeps in place by pressure. It is a tight fit so won't slip off. It can be removed easily without any scratches.

 

From my experience (driving an F Type R 2016 RWD) I could compare as I was using the same ramp to the underground garage with a Porsche Boxster and where my son is still using his BMW M235i (2014). With the Boxter I could hardly enter diagonally, only me in the cabin as if there was another passenger inside the Boxter would touch in the middle underneath, also very close at the nose. The BMW also is quite lower at the nose and also at the middle of the two axles. Again with the BMW M235i my son could not carry passengers and drives diagonally in order to not scratch the nose or to not touch with the underneath of the chassis between the front and rear axle.

I am surprisingly impressed by the Jag F Type R RWD that not only is higher and enters easily without even going closer underneath between the two axles but also I can be with a passenger inside and not risk to touch. Also the nose is higher then the two other mentioned cars. I do not know where do they measure the ground clearance that is given in the specs but I could put an iPhone 7 plus (around 16 cm tall) right under the middle of the chassis. It can not enter for almost 3-4 mm. So the fact ground clearance that I experience of my Jag is around +15 cm! Which I find one of the best for such car category. Is this because my car comes built for Asia market? I do not know but I feel very very eased compared to other cars that I mentioned upwards.

My son has painted many times the nose of his BMW M235i, also the Boxter was painted twice in short time. While the Jag does not even gets close.

Does my ground clearance differs with other F Types R? If yes, anyone knows why?

However I will try to measure it properly tomorrow and bring comparative photos to you. This, to me, is one of the GT/sports cars with the highest ground clearance ever as it is.

 

One of the best options you can get is the parking sensors. Unless you back in to parking spaces, you just get used to pushing the button, slowing forward and wait for tones.
The whiskers underneath scrape first and are easy to shave and not too expensive to replace.

 

A lot of folks gripe about inadequate ground clearance, but I found that the OEM clearance was not only visually excessive, it caused more sway than I would have expected from the car. With the H&R springs, the car was lowered by 1.25" in front and 1.5" in the rear. Yes, there is the occasional issue approaching steep driveways, but nothing more than the inexpensive whiskers even come close to touch. Lowering the car that much also eliminates any perceptive sway.