The 2014 Jaguar F-Type V8 S is easily one of the best roadsters available!
Have you ever driven a car that makes you giggle with excitement every time you hit the start button? A car that is so over the top that makes you not care about anything else? Well that’s exactly how we felt after a few days with the keys to the 2014 Jaguar F-Type V8 S.
The Jaguar F-Type is the first roadster from the cat brand in 40 years and hopefully it is a sign of good things to come from Jaguar. Jaguar fans will recall that the last Jaguar roadster, the classic E-Type went out of production in 1974.
Forty years after the E-Type left us, Jaguar has returned with the sexy, aggressive F-Type that exudes so much emotion that it easily brings back all those memories of the first time your parents let you take out the car alone. The F-Type craves to be driven hard and that exhaust note will scare anyone in sight. Yes we actually heard on more than one occasion, “OMG you scared the crap out of me!”
Jaguar has created the ultimate roadster with so much muscle, that it literally eats the road. The F-Type S V8 we drove is the top version of the F-Type lineup with its supercharged 495-hp 5.0L V8 engine. It reaches 0-62 mph in 4.2 seconds and has a top speed of 186 mph. If that’s too much power for you, the F-Type is also available in the F-Type S trim with a 380-hp 3.0L supercharged V6 and the base model is powered by a 340-hp 3.0L supercharged V6. All three versions come standard with an 8-speed “QuickShift” automatic transmission.
The F-Type starts at $69,000, which is the same starting price as the Mercedes-Benz SLK55 AMG and only slightly higher than the Porsche Boxster S and BMW Z4 sDrive35is. At the other end of the spectrum, the F-Type V8 S starts at $92,000, placing it head to head with models like the Porsche 911.
Once you stop staring at the F-Type’s sexy lines, you open the door to a cockpit that you can’t wait to sit your butt in. Our V8 S featured a red leather interior with well shaped seats that were fully adjustable. Visibility was what you expect from a two-seater convertible and its power top can be operated while on the move. Our only complaints with the interior were its lack of perforated, cooled seats and its audio system Meridian audio system was a bit disappointing.
The F-Type lets you calibrate its engine, transmission, exhaust and stability control to your mood. The manual shifting mode will somewhat satisfy those drivers that crave a manual transmission and the dynamic mode changes the settings of the throttle response, steering weighting and Adaptive Dynamics suspension damping. Dynamic Launch Mode even cuts the 0-60 mph time of the F-Type S by 0.3 seconds. Our favorite was the Active Sport Exhaust that electronically controls the bypass valves. With the simple press of a button on the console the F-Type goes from a composed roadster to an outright animal.
At the end of the day, the 2014 Jaguar F-Type is just as fun to drive as it is to look at. It’s not quite as capable as the Porsche 911, but also costs less and will likely tap into your emotional side far more. At the end of the day the 2014 F-Type is an insanely fun and stunning roadster!
2014 Jaguar F-Type V8 S
Base Price: $92,000
Price as Tested: $107,000
