Jaguar F-Type 2.0-litre: first drive

Porsche ran into a hail of criticism when it produced a car with not a flat-six engine but instead a four-cylinder. Some still see it as a step too far, but Jaguar clearly isn’t one of them. On paper, replacing either the delicious V6 or V8 with a straight four-pot might seem a calamity, but an inaugural test drive showed that reality and paper are often far apart.

Mind you, those numbers written on the paper certainly look attractive. With the top price of an F-Type over £110,000 (for the SVR version), having a new entry price of just under £50,000 is enticing. And 296bhp with 295lb ft of torque are two really quite eye-catching numbers.

They continue. With a 0-62mph time of only 5.4sec, this 2.0-litre version is actually quicker than the 335bhp V6 which, with a manual box, was the previous entry point to F-Type heaven. That cost more and weighed more with the new car 52kg lighter as well.

All of this adds up, according to Jaguar, to the ‘most dynamically capable, most performance-focused’ F-Type yet. That weight loss, obviously mostly from the engine and therefore from over the front axle, will make the car more agile than models with larger, heavier engines.

It comes with an eight-speed ZF Quickshift automatic transmission which has been specially adapted for the engine, and sends power to the rear wheels. It’s smooth and fast-shifting, easily easing power from ratio to ratio. Mind you, with all that torque, delivered from only 1500rpm, it’s hardly having to jump from peak to peak.

But this isn’t just about numbers. It looks like performance and handling will be tremendous, but that wasn’t Porsche’s problem. The vitriol came from diehards who loathed – and still loathe – the sound of a four-cylinder engine in something like a 718 Cayman. So what’s it like sitting in the cabin of the new 2.0-litre F-Type?