Review is MT F-TYPE by the guy you love to hate
 

A lot of you dislike this guy but I enjoyed the review. Yes partly because the F-type he tested is a dead ringer for mine and partly because I liked the review. Exhaust sounds are awesome.

The Manual V6 Jaguar F-Type Is Way Better Than The Automatic V8*

He tries too hard to be funny...and he is not.


Larry

There is no substitute for horsepower.

Yes there is...driver skill. ;)

I really like Doug, he's a great writer, his Video's ? He's a great writer.

I grew up with MT's but I live in a huge Parking lot now.

Still can't get my head around the difference in standard fit equipment when comparing markets. Feels like we get a hard deal round here.

I read this over on Jalopnik earlier and Doug is actually a cool, funny guy IMO. I read his articles all the time and to me his stuff his great. He's a real car enthusiast who tries to put some humor with cars.

Nope. There is no substitute for horsepower. You cannot compare a 3 year old in the car to an F1 driver. But you can compare Alonso in a V6 vs. V8. Alonso + V8 will always beat Alonso + V6.

Q.E.D.

That wasn't the point. Alonso in a V6 is likely to be faster than any of us in a V8.

That has always been my problem with Doug as well. He's the Family Guy equivalent of automotive journalism. Just toss in any esoteric reference and people will think you are clever.

I've also never seen someone have more problems with the cars they have purchased than him. Either he has horrible luck, or it is mostly manufactured for a story.

LOL... the one to get, huh? Well, it seems that sentiment isn't shared by too many people, at least here in Florida. Of the last... I dunno.....40 or so F-Types I've worked on there has been ONE manual trans car. The people that can afford (and do buy) these cars could give a rats ass about rowing their own gears. Obviously, there are some exceptions, but that's not what I've seen down here.

With that said, I did drive a manual trans S and I personally wasn't a fan of the clutch feel. Oh....power was a bit lacking....and noise ;) But I'm probably biased. To me, HP and speed are what makes up the Jag DNA. There's no such thing as "enough" power. I'm glad there's still some people in JLR corporate who believe in preserving that heritage.

But If I feel the need to manually shift a transmission, I've got two other toys in the garage that fit that bill.

The guy is a jerk. He bought a 9 year old Aston Martin with 42,000 miles and a full factory bumper to bumper warranty and then proceeded to try and find the any and every problem he could with the car so he could trash Aston Martin. Like previous posts, this guy tries to be funny and he isn't. He is funny looking, but not funny.

It must be true in aggregate... people don't really care about my F-Type (there are so many around here) until they see it's manual, or hear me overevving. lol But even the dealer doesn't see many sold (apparently). We tried to get unit sales from corporate. I will try again.

Anecdotally, when I am in the middle of my rowing, it dawns on me that this car exists in an AT, and it absolutely offends me.

The idea that people who can afford and buy these cars are disinterested in being connected with their machine absolutely baffles me. Maybe they just want to be seen?

I really cannot wait until driverless cars pop up, and people can afford to sell cars they hate, or just text and get where they are going because they hate to drive. I know we'll have our own gridlocked lanes while the autonomous cars zip by us.... I also know insurance will get prohibitively expensive.

But seriously... get the people off the road that don't want to be driving.

And I am FIRMLY JOKING HERE, but in my mind that's every single automatic transmission on the road. LOL

I've always been an enthusiast and I've had well over 50 vehicles up to this point. I would say 90% of those have been MT. If the R had been available with a manual trans, no questions asked, I would have ticked that box (and probably would have been flabbergasted by people that optioned autos too :) ). However, after spending a week with each, there was no question which one I wanted. The torque of the V8 won me over along with those intoxicating pops & bangs. Yeah, I know you guys get that too but it doesn't put a smile on my face the way it does with the five liter. The 8 speed ZF slush box is one of the better autos I've come across. I probably spend more time paddling it in Sport then I do just leaving it in "D". But I get ya for sure.

Would you have been tempted by a 6-speed F-Type with 450hp/440tq and a properly functioning clutch? (more to follow)

I would go for it as long as I could get the quad exhaust, I just like that look.

That's later on the agenda with a Titanium exhaust. Not certain I have the stomach for the SVR version, though, at $5k per side.

Don't want to ignite a manual vs auto debate, but wanted to tip in here with recent experience. I recently drove the manual and auto F-Type V6 back-to-back.

For background, I have been driving manual transmission cars as daily drivers exclusively for the past 10 years, have owned manual for far longer than I care to admit. Driving the V6 manual was my first choice on the initial test drive. Then I immediately jumped into an auto to compare.

While the F-Type is a joy to drive in any configuration, this was the first car I've experienced where the auto version actually added more to the driving experience rather thank taking away. When in Dynamic + Sport shift mode, the lightning-fast shifts were a revelation.

That red/red car in the video does look amazing.

For me, the best thing about the V6 F-Type is the exhaust.....it sounds waaaay better than my V8 R. That video did a great capturing the sound. The V6 sounds like an Italian supercar. (almost like my Maserati GT). The V8 is too much Mustang/Camaro which I don't like. I really wished the engineers tuned the R exhaust to sound more exotic (if not Italian, then maybe even Aston Martin). However, there's just no getting around the power in the V8. The V8 will push you back into the seat. The V6 will not. Don't get me wrong, I don't think the V6 is a slow car by any means. But these days, even an Audi A6 or a C450 will out run the V6 F-Type. For me, the power of the V8 justifies the exotic looks of the car.

I need to make it clear that whenever I talk about the 8 cylinder, I'm saying it is far too much car for *my* skills or my driving abilities. When I say the R is too much car, I just mean for me but not others. I just know I will end up in one of those "idiots crashing supercars" clips.

There is some real talent on these boards, however, and it is fun to listen to all of you guys. Cheers!