an interesting read, not sure I agree with all of it. Marketing, maybe. I appreciate Jaguars, but had NO idea the F even existed for several years... no advertising and of course, here in rural Wisconsin, you are not going to see them on the road. When my husband poked me about 'buying a more modern Jaguar" (more modern than my 69 E type) I scoffed as I was not interested in some paddle shift sports car wannabe. Imagine my surprise when "manual transmission Jaguar" search brought up the very F type I ended up buying. I truly hope Jaguar can find its way forward.

https://www.motor1.com/features/7354...up-underrated/

 

My wife grabbed a V6S 6-speed for similar reasons, she test drove a V8R with the ZF8 and was let down due to the lack of interaction. We live in a "rural" area, but commute into a city for work. She definitely stands out.

I just got from Wisconsin last month for Road America. Really scenic area around Siebkens.

 

I was never impressed with the interior of the XE, and if you went with a diesel or 4-pot, there wasn't much to talk about in performance, either.

It's rather ironic that the first death knell of the Jaguar ICE's was on the luxury end (which is their heritage and future focus). And, there's some irony that their future is centered on premium ELECTRIC vehicles, given the brand's historic notoriety with electronics. While I know there's no relation - just tell that to the general public.

I agree they didn't do enough to promote the F-Types early on. I believe I bought mine before I'd ever seen one in person, although I fell in love with them early from the reviews. I felt it was the first true successor to the E-Type. Jaguar had some great commercials, like the Jaguar vs MB series, but they weren't pushed. It would have been great if they'd done a similar brand/brand take with Porsche - where everyone walks past a 911 to gawk at the beauty of the F-Type. It's even true, and I've lived it.

As a side note, I've driven with a left pedal most of my years and only "regretted" it in E-Type, in DC traffic. But, the ZF transmission is pretty addictive and well-tuned for the Jag. It's amazingly quick and hard to believe it isn't double-clutch.

 

Yep, I agree with most of what you say.
I had never seen let alone driven an F-Type before I bought mine, I had owned nothing but manual trans cars from 1975 to my first Jag (XFS) in 2013 so it was my first ever slushbox car, and I am very happy with the 8 speed ZF in the F-Type.

 

Ah, the advantage of living in Jaguar's homeland! I drove 5 before I bought mine, including 3 at the Millbrook proving ground at a Jaguar "F-Type Beyonds Limits" event - 24 F-Types in 4 groups of "challenges". The Alpine circuit (where some James Bond scenes were shot), the banked circuit (only 130 mph in a convertible) and the "straight mile" where the instruction was "just floor it". An indicated !68 mph at the 3/4 mile point at which braking heavily was the order of the day - that mile ends quickly with a sharp turn at the end! Then a couple of test drives later and I found mine at the 6th.

 

Don’t agree with that all. Is it a manual? No, but I actually find the sport shift mode quite engaging with the ZF, and I’m not sure I would have gathered that in a quick test drive. It took a bit for me to get used to it and realize how involving it was.

I was initially a bit bummed that I could not get a manual in the purchase of my R. It had most everything else I was looking for over other competitor options (Porsche, Lotus has manual options etc), but the lack of manual was a bit of a sore point initially. Not anymore. This is a great gearbox in its own right, and it is quite involving (particularly in slightly aggressive driving).

All this said, I still understand the love for manuals.

 

To clarify, do you mean using the stick as a sequential shifter instead of the paddles? I like that feature.

 

That’s exactly it. That’s more natural to me. Thankfully they did it the “proper” way and made it so upshift is pull back and downshift is push forward. Some cars don’t do it like that and it drives me nuts…lol…I don’t use the paddles at all basically…

 

She disliked the automatic flappy paddles, so purchased a V6S with the ZF6 which is manual. We both have complete hatred of automatics.

 

Yeah, I can’t get on with the paddles either as I said above. I only use the sequential shift.

 

I read the article, the comments are well, interesting..

Jaguar has always been special, and with both meanings. Special as in uniquely fun, and maybe a little of that kind of special as in "special needs child".
But one thing is brutally clear, my 2017 F-Type S is a remarkably fun car. The 380HP supercharged V6 is such a weird engine, with its 2 missing pistons, and it can't match a 5.0 Mustang or Corvette in a drag race. What it can do is put a smile on my face every time I drive it because it has the correct driving feel, sound, ride, responsiveness and comfort a driving enthusiast desires. So few cars are made this way anymore. Like none. They are all numb. Drive the 'Vette to WalMart and it feels just like you are driving an Impala. And the 'Stang might as well be a Ford Fusion when driving around town, just boring and numb.

Jag had a great thing going. They blew it. BMW and Porsche each have their own strengths, for a time, Jag was a more interesting choice.

The F-Type exactly matches the song "Red Barchetta" in it's soul, even with that ZF auto! How in the world do you quantify that?

 

Interesting read indeed. Just maybe a bit too much doom and gloom... I still hope that Jaguar have something good up their sleeve.

Don't quite agree about the XE because I never think it was quite as good as the 3 series, although I always thought the XE is a great car and much more interesting than any 3 series. It just never had a chance against the 3 series in the mass market. The high spec XEs were very nice but over here there were also loads of poverty spec ones with stuff like low rent black cloth interiors, halogen headlights, very limited tech options, way too small wheels, dull 2 litre diesel engines etc which really didn't do the car or the brand justice.

As the article states though, the difference in lineup is quite striking. I just felt the same a couple of days ago. Except the last few years, during the past good decade there was always something exciting to look at or sit around in when I brought my Jags in for maintenance or repairs. XJs, F-types, XKs of different flavors, sometimes a Project 7 or Project 8, sometimes an XFR-S etc. I went in for a service earlier this week and this was the showroom... a bunch of non descript, discontinued and 2nd hand family cars which I hardly bothered to look at. The P300 convertible in the corner might have been a little bit exciting if I didn't already have the perfect spec F-Type.

I'm just really happy I got to experience some brilliant Jags over the years, own one I think is perfect and I still have some hope for Jaguar.

 

We've had 2 XE's, we had the 25T R sport when they first came out and then the 2020 p300 R dynamic HSE when they first came out (July 2019 over here), both were from the first cars shipped here. I am actually a huge fan but think that the budget looking interior of the first version damned the model, it needed to be better inside than the competition, and priced the same or better. It wasnt in either case and there were other cheap things like the rear diffuser that really could have been pretty but looked cheap, I was on the UK based XF forum at the launch in 2015 and they were apoplectic about the interiors although to be fair the interiors were very functional and looked nice at night, just plain during the day.

I thought the 2015 model with standard suspension on 19's handled quite a bit better than the 2020 model with adaptive suspension on 19's as it sat flatter, I've never driven any car that gave me more confidence in handling although it isnt as fast as the f type so it doesnt have to work as hard keeping the car on the straight and narrow.

The 2020 version is heaps nicer inside and also more aggressive and complete outside, I would put it on a par with the 2012 XF which was a lovely car, if it had been the launch model the XE would have been much more successful IMO but too late, the pricing was pretty good as we got a pretty much fully kitted out and optioned up top of the line 2020 version for what we paid for the middle spec 25T in 2015, unfortunately I didnt option the split folding rear seats because I didnt realise it wasnt standard and that was a a serious fail on my part, though we now have the mustang for carrying duties.

 

I must have been one of the apoplectic ones because I was pretty active over there back then and was less than impressed by the X260. Overall the X260 generation XF was such a letdown and the interior was one of the reasons to why I got a supercharged facelift X250 and not an X260 when it was time to move on from my pre-facelift XFS. Just like with the XE they were a bit too sloppy with the interior on launch and rectified it only years later when it was too late.

I remember once renting a loaded pre-facelift XE Portfolio in the UK for a little road trip and that was pretty much top of the range interior wise for an XE. Even my kids commented on that it didn't feel as classy inside as my X250 XF. A couple of years ago I also had a facelift XE loaner which looked so much better both inside and outside. Anyhow they're great cars and IMHO the best looking Jag sedans since the X250.

 

Yep. In the United States I don't think I've even seen them (F-Types) ever advertised -- not once. My first introduction to one (an R) was being absolutely walked while getting on a straight on-ramp (one way road -> freeway transition) in my Trans Am. The icing on the cake was when he let off the gas and I, driving with my windows down, was greeted by the pops ... oh the pops! I swore that instant I would own one some day, and I did finally manage to acquire my 2nd dream car, thankfully.

I don't understand how companies can produce such awesome, I mean truly awe-inspiring vehicles, but fall short on marketing them properly. GM did the same with their 4th Gen. F-Body (Trans Am / Camaro) lineup back in the day. Very bold styling and performance (straight-line) for a bargain -- the 98-2002 LS1 V8 model lineup in particular, which were way ahead of their time. If they had marketed them properly, they easily could/would have sold a ton more.

That's one of the things that drew me to the F-Type, was because it is so rare, esp. in the US. As much as I (and my late father) have loved Vettes throughout my life, I wanted something more unique. The F-Type really scratched that itch. I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss having a clutch and proper stick-shift. Not being able to throw a rev on demand or drop the clutch to break the tires loose is just... I don't know, old habits die hard I guess. I suppose I need to grow up. I still jump in my Trans Am from time to time to find back-roads in farmland to feel that again.

 

Jaguar took a Super Bowl advertising slot in the early days (can't recall which year, but did read it cost them a lot)!

 

There was a bit of stuff, in the "it's good to be bad" ads which were a lot of fun. Also there was some product placement, I think the Jason Statham character drove one when he first came into the F&F franchise, when he was a bad guy (or did we just think he was a bad guy? It's so confusing...) proving that bald people dont have to drive porsches after all, anyway from memory he killed a bunch of people and then drove off in an F Type, and also there was the hideous gold F Type in the movie Collide (2016) (pretty good movie, actually, lotsa Jags in it), that car was driven by Ben Kingsley, also the bad guy, perhaps "it's good to be bad" was confused for "it's good to be bald".