I don't doubt that the V8 is awesome but I wouldn't swap my V6 for one. V6 is already too much for our roads, V8 would kill my licence before too long!

Plus road tax would be even more horrific, insurance, etc.

The V6 definitely has a place in the hierarchy.

 

This x1000


Having 550+ HP is nice but getting around a track quickly can be chore sometimes in the car. Granted most will not track this car but when magazines publish lap times with the F-type coming in behind less powered cars it might send your potential bench racer customers else where.

I think the F-type is in difficult spot right night as it takes a really specific customer to want this car. It's not light and nimble enough to be a track warrior and yet it is not soft enough to be a comfortable GT. I can get the car around Sebring in about the same time as my 2008 Z06, but that was a much less expensive car on a 10 year old platform.

Lose a few hundred pounds, offer an HUD, maybe a more track focused model. Keep the look, keep the sound and I'll be a returning customer.

MC

 

That's because to get the V8 you need to purchase the R model which is around $100K depending on options. Base models start at $65K. Pretty significant price difference.

 

Uh, OK . . . so you're saying that one should be able to buy a base model w/ a V8 for $65K? That would completely gut the sales of the $100K+ R. Thus, that's not the way things work in Marketing 101 class.

What if you don't want a V8? Many customers don't.

 

I just ordered an optioned out V6S which, price wise, wasn't that far off a base V8. I wanted the V6S ... It wasn't a compromise over cost. I think it's a little naive to assume everyone who walks away from the R does so over price.

 

Prior to 2013, the entire Jaguar line up had the V8 engine for many years.

 

So? They weren't selling many cars either. Plus, what you say isn't true. For example, the XF has been sold with a range of both V6 and V8 engines since 2007.

 

I wanted a V8, as do most sensible—i.e. insanely impractical—sports car buyers. Is the engine worth the premium? For me it was a borderline Yes. I was ready to order my R, but then I sat in one at the dealership for 15 minutes. The so-called "performance seats," bun-numbingly hard and inexplicably seamed up the middle, killed the deal. So I got a V6S, which I love.

I suspect that JLR will rectify their error in future model years, in which case I'll be looking closely at the possibility of trading up.