Wednesday 17 February 2016

Jaguar's 575-horsepower F-TYPE SVR is coming.


If I've ever had one complaint with the Jaguar F-TYPE sports Coupe (and Convertible) it is that it has never been fast enough. Wait. No, that's not it. It's that I can't afford one.

Nevertheless, Jaguar has gone and solved one of those issues with the new F-TYPE SVR, which adds brutal power to the already staggeringly beautiful F-TYPE form.

Underneath the long, raked hood lies a reworked version of the brand's supercharged 5.0-liter V8 engine. With extra tuning, it now produces 575 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. To put that into perspective, that's like 3.25 Camrys worth of power (I know that's a weird comparison, but stay with me here).

Bolted to an 8-speed automatic transmission that routes power to all four wheels through an all-wheel drive system, the F-TYPE SVR will sprint to 60 mph from a standstill in 3.5 seconds on the way to its 200-mph top speed, which is nearly double the top speed of the Camry (oh, I am running with this Camry thing).

Jaguar's Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) team simply didn't add more power and a new SVR badge to the F-TYPE and call it a day. Designers also added bigger front air intakes and an active (meaning it extends automatically at speed) rear carbon-fiber spoiler. Then they upgraded the chassis both for stiffness and lightness (it weighs 55 pounds less than the F-TYPE R). Finishing off the look, Jag bolted up some lightweight 20-inch wheels.


Certainly, that's not all the changes made in the SVR transformation. However, that's all the tweaks I go into here. That's because detailing the rest might well put you and me to sleep.
OK I'll discuss one more detail: the exhaust. The "regular" F-TYPE makes some of the loudest, most wonderful noises in the whole world. In fact, I once compared the sound to a lion being stuffed through a jet engine. The SVR has a new Inconel Titanium exhaust system that Jaguar brags "delivers an even more purposeful, harder-edged sound," which I didn't think was possible. That'd be like someone telling me that cantaloupe could get more delicious — it just doesn't seem within the realms of possibility.
Perhaps best of all, unlike other brands that keep the most potent models to a single hard-top variant, Jaguar will sell you the SVR in either Coupe or Convertible form. That means you can hide from the sun in the Coupe or invite all the noises of that new exhaust into the interior with the Convertible.
Pricing starts at $125,950 for the Coupe and $128,800 for the Convertible and the first SVRs will hit showrooms this summer.


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