- convertible 16,400
- 55,000 high price
- Beaverton, OR
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- autoshopper.com
- convertible 16,400 gasoline orange automatic
2014 jaguar f-type review this car review is specific to this model, not the actual vehicle for sale. New model worthy successor to e-type. introductionthe jaguar f-type is a sensational new car, the first true sports car jaguar has built in 40 years. We think they nailed it. It's difficult to build something in 2013 that's true to a heritage from so far back without making a car that's crude and retro. Jaguar has done as good a job as possible, although the interior could be less 2013, less swoopy, and still be comfortable and functional. the f-type is only available for now as a convertible, although a coupe is inevitable and it will be drop-dead gorgeous. The aluminum shapes are created masterfully. A black egg crate grille complements the design while clearly saying it's a jaguar, including the shark-like gills on each side. From the top corners of the headlamps, shaped like smooth bending trapezoids, a sharp character line travels over the front fender, past the door and onto the rear deck. Door handles are flush with the body. the interior has two personalities, from the passenger seat and driver seat. On the right side, it feels remote and not much like a sports car. A big dashboard feels so far away. Everything is leather-clad. The passenger is further separated from the driving experience by a wide vertical grab handle to the right of the gear lever. but for the driver, this cabin that jaguar calls asymmetric comes to life, with controls and instruments canted toward him or her. The panel is clean and sporty. The speedo and tach are large and clear, but the numbers seem processed compared to simple white-on-black gauges like we wish the f-type had for the sake of its heritage. the bucket seats are excellent, no complaints there. The leather-wrapped steering wheel is nice and fat (flat-bottomed is optional), and the paddles are well designed. the aluminum architecture and chassis structure is the most advanced and best ever. Riveted and bonded, it's the lightest and most rigid ever designed, at no small expense. The f-type weighs in at a slim 3521 pounds. there are three models, with the supercharged v6 s making 380 horsepower and supercharged v8 s making 495. We got both f-type s cars on the track, where the v6 worked better because it's better balanced. The rigid aluminum double-wishbone suspension front and rear does an amazing job of keeping the car precise. Jaguar f-type s uses the same engine making 380 horsepower. The jaguar f-type v8 s uses a 5. 0-liter supercharged v8 making 495 horsepower. They all use an 8-speed automatic transmission with console or paddle shifting. the f-type uses 18-inch wheels, the v6 s uses 19-inch wheels, and the v8 s uses 20-inch wheels. Many of the other differences in the s models are aerodynamic, and some are in equipment. With a shorter wheelbase and wider track than the xk, it brings a new look. There was a great deal of special aluminum work done to create the shape and crease in the hood, many expensive tries to get it right. It'd be like comparing joe namath to colin kaepernick. The v8 gets vanes under nose and flat side sill extensions, to manage airflow. There are a number of faux intakes and vents in the front fascia, hood and fenders. If only they were real. the big black egg crate grille is all jaguar, with shark-like gills on each side. The longitudinal headlamps are smooth bending trapezoids, with cool led outlines on two sides; from their top corners begins a sharp crease that runs over the front fender, past the door and onto the uplifting rear deck. There are split five-spoke alloys that don't seem special enough; painted gray five-spokes split at the rim like crab claws; bladed 10-spokes that are a lot more like it; and a third style with carbon-fiber trim that we're not sold on. the hood has a sharp power bulge straight up the center. Any jaguar, when viewed head-on, inspires oohs and aahs. Behind the occupants' heads are twin rollbar hoops with fairings that give them depth so they don't look like steel bars. Behind the rollbars is an area that stores the top, then the sensuous rear deck over a good-sized trunk. One option is a valance in gloss black with body-color trimmed over the stainless pipes in the v6. The standard valance is flat black. the long led tail lamps are thin elegant trapezoids that wrap forward all the way to the back of the rear wheels. There's a graceful ridge on top of the rear fenders that flows down to the center of the tail lamps. We like the single twin exhaust pipes that come out the center of the valance v6, more than the double outboard twin pipes in the v8. The twin-tip center exhaust is a nod to the e-type of 1961, when it was a sensationally sexy idea. the rear spoiler is invisibly flat, until the car reaches 60 mph. We don't know what it looks like when it's up, we weren't looking. When we were doing 60 and more, we were looking through the windshield with a big grin. it was a hot day at the launch in the northwest, 270 miles driven on remote washington two-lanes behind mount rainier, some track laps, and another hundred miles on puget sound. We forgot to put the top up. It goes up and down in 12 seconds. We've seen pictures. A great big dashboard, so far away, so remote, and nothing for the passenger to play with or look at. Everything leather-clad, with one tint being a rich dark brown that's stunning. The passenger is further separated from the driving experience by a wide vertical grab handle to the right of the gear lever. this passenger remoteness is nothing personal, it's an unintended consequence. Jaguar means to lock the driver into his or her experience, not the passenger out of it. Jaguar said the aim was to create an enveloping cockpit for the driver with all the controls placed naturally to hand and logically grouped, allowing maximum attention on the driving experience. Even some finishes and materials are different on the driver's side. And compared to the e-type, the cockpit doesn't feel like a sports car. We can't think of a high-performance luxury sports car that does. Luxury sports car is an oxymoron. The speedo and tach are large and clear, but they don't particularly suggest performance, for sure not old-school. The numbers seem processed compared to e-type gauges. The fit and feel of the bucket seats is just what it should be, with all its adjustment. The leather-wrapped steering wheel is nice and fat (flat-bottomed is optional), but the thumb bumps at 10 and 2 on the wheel get in the way of paddle shifting. Bucket Seats✔ Bluetooth
55,000 Beaverton, ORBeaverton, OR at autoshopper.com