Jaguar’s F-Type undergoes the nip/tuck for 2020

Facelifts are always rather puzzling to me, as they often suggest that a model is truly beginning to age. This task is made harder when the facelift in question is of a product that is Jag’s F-type. The issue, it’s a tremendous sportscar, stonking engines and the exhaust note cut with an élan that is carbon monoxide symphony. The F-type is a very emotive experience, with this strange bond and connection that links you to the car and places you in the cockpit with the accelerator as some metaphorical musical bow and the strings being played belonging to your heart, ultimately a very characterful car scoring the one-too punch K-O with beauty and grace.

The facelift brings a subtly to the face, with soft lines that effectively contribute to the athletic prowess. J-shaped LED matrix lights technology with the new bonnet and updated grill create a familiar face to the rest of the Jag Line up.

Internally the key changes are the updates to the infotainment system through a new 12.3-inch Digital instrument cluster with the standard, Apple Carplay and Andriod Auto connectivities. Optional Meridian sound systems enhance the sound experience further, and having sampled this in the pre-facelift it’s a hefty thing and rather worth the extra investment, given when equipped it makes clear the other great noises this car is capable of making through the stereo system.

The F-type range remains the same comprising of the 2.0Litre turbocharged 4-cylinder, 3.0Litre Supercharged V6 and more meaty JLR 5.0Litre Supercharged V8. All engines now are mated exclusively to an 8-speed automatic transmission. The power outputs remain the same starting off at 221kW and 400Nm for the four-pot, 283Kw and 459Nm in the V6. The 5.0litre V8 offers a more performance-oriented 331kW and 459Nm, dashing form zero – 100km/h in 4.4 Seconds and one to a full chat of 285km/h, likely remaining the pick of the bunch before the full-cream ‘R’.

F-Type R

The ‘R’ Receives an update to the power figures and now produces 423kW and a colossal 700Nm. 0-100 is dispatched rapidly at the rate of 3.7 seconds, and top speed is rated at 300km/h. Updates to the chassis and driving dynamics have resulted in 20-inch diamond churned alloy wheels with gloss black finishes. Other updates include new adaptive dampening, springs, stiffer knuckles and anti-toll bars in efforts to improve the ability to change direction. Standard through the range the active exhaust system which allows for ‘quiet starts‘ on V6 and V8 models.

The first year of production will yield the F-Type First Edition and will be a more exclusive model for the first year. F-Type will arrive on our shores in 2020, as both Coupe and Convertible. Pricing has yet to be released locally