The 2022 Jaguar F-Type gets some significant updates for 2022 in a field swimming with newer competitors, including the mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette, Porsche 718 Boxster, and 718 Cayman.
But Jaguar hasn’t been asleep at the switch. The company’s updates over the past couple of years have kept the cat competitive. Given that Jaguar is promising the lineup will be electrified by 2025, the updates hardly seem warranted, as the company could easily let the F-Type ride out its final years without significant updates.
Nevertheless, the car’s recent revisions help maintain its competitiveness, despite its transformation later this decade. This makes the current models the last of the breed, not to mention a thrill to drive.
Changing Market
Given the intensifying competition and the ever-increasing amount of available horsepower offered in the sports car horsepower wars, Jaguar dropped the turbocharged four-cylinder and supercharged six-cylinder engines.
Now, the F-Type is solely V-8 powered, retaining its supercharged 5.0-liter V8 in P450 and P450 R-Dynamic trim. It comes draped in either coupe or convertible bodywork. For 2022, the F-Type receives a more lavish cabin, larger brakes, and standard 20-inch wheels.
Accentuating Positives
The F-Type received a freshening for 2021 with noticeably slimmer LED headlights, a revised clamshell hood, and bumpers, that lend it a slightly more menacing, yet still refined, appearance. Thankfully, however, the F-Type’s taut, the sleek appearance remains mostly untouched. Its sophisticated clean design remains a refreshing counterpoint to the overwrought, overdesigned chaos that passes for modern sports car design. Instead of throwing everything at its design, Jaguar respects its heritage with an uncluttered shape that speaks with a dignified authority, allowing the flowing lines to speak.
There’s no need for childish excess; it’s visual haiku that speaks volumes. Even stepping up to the P450 R-Dynamic keeps the added dross to a minimum with a gloss black front splitter, side sills, valance, and venturi; auto-dimming power-folding, heated side mirrors; and special 20-inch wheels.
Cabin Comforts
This is where Jaguar has done some serious heavy lifting for 2022. It starts as you climb into the car, with the embossed leaping jaguars embossed in the headrests. As you settle in, it’s hard not to be impressed by the contrast stitching on the seats and doors.
Jaguar designers have revised interior finishes accented with what it calls its heritage lozenge pattern, its name for the elongated hexagon shape that was used on its logo in the 1950s. The company would like you to come to associate it with Jaguar in the way that one recognizes Louis Vuitton’s iconic checkered pattern.
Throughout the cabin, finishes are dramatically improved with supple leather, satin-finish chrome, and more, projecting a far more appropriate given this car’s price point, a problem with Jaguar interiors for the best part of a decade.
Otherwise, the cabin is unchanged. It’s still fairly cozy with minimal storage in the finest sports car tradition. Need more space? Buy a minivan; stretchy sweat pants not included.
Mobile, Agile and Hostile
The F-Type becomes a true sports car for 2022, dropping the turbocharged four-cylinder supercharged 6-cylinder engines. In its place is the F-Type P450 powered by a supercharged 5.0-liter V-8 that produces 444 horsepower and 428 pound-feet of torque at 2,500 rpm.
Offered in rear-wheel or all-wheel drive, reaching 60 mph takes 4.4 seconds, with a top speed of 177 mph. Not bad, but not as quick as the F-Type P450 R-Dynamic, with 575 horsepower, all-wheel drive, and a 0-60 mph time of 3.5 seconds.
Thoughtfully, the F-Type comes with Quiet Start, which won’t wake the neighbors when you arrive home late at night. It can be shut off by selecting the Dynamic driving mode or by pressing the exhaust button on the center console.
Safety Considerations
When it comes to driver-assistance tech, automatic emergency braking, lane centering, adaptive cruise control, and traffic-sign recognition are standard. Blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert are optional.
The instrument panel features a large, usefully reconfigurable 12.3-inch color digital instrument cluster, and a smaller 10-inch touchscreen that’s not as good as the Pivi Pro system used in other Jaguar Land Rover products, but proves sufficient nonetheless.
Driving Impressions
These are cars you strap on and drive. That’s their intent. The car gets up and goes, with impressive grip, quick steering, and impressive brakes you’d expect. There’s a lack of body lean and fairly good bump isolation for a sports car.
This is a car with a large, loud V-8 upfront, a far different animal from the silky-smooth inline sixes and V-12s once found in Jaguar sports cars. So despite the car’s definitive heritage cues, it will never deliver an experience that calls to mind an E-Type, despite being one letter removed in the alphabet.
It remains its own cat, albeit a growling beast with a fairly firm ride that seems less harsh than previous iterations without sacrificing handling. But it’s not a grand touring car like the XJS, XK8, or even the V-12 E-Type.
Our Takeaway
If longtime Jaguar aficionados have anything to look forward to with electrification, it’s the return of some semblance of effortless, quiet performance that once defined Jaguar coupes and convertibles. The F-Type has always been a bit too Germanic in its performance, having sacrificed comfort for performance. Its upgraded interior and V-8-only power clarify the F-Type’s particular personality among Jaguars, while its upgraded interior restores more of what buyers come to expect from the marque.
Pros
1. Ridiculously Good Looks
The feline theme really comes across in the F-Type’s exterior styling. The silhouette is long and low, but the curvaceous fenders look like a cat’s muscular rear haunches. Out front, cat-eye headlights complete the look.
2. Enjoyable To Drive
In the normal driving mode, you get a relaxed, grand touring sort of ride. But R mode gives you what you came for: explosive acceleration, firm-but-not-too-firm ride quality, and precise control. The adjustable exhaust roars just like you’d expect a big cat to, and the supercharger provides a tuneful whine. Altogether, it’s a joyful, sporty driving experience.
3. “R” Is for Ridiculous Power
The 296-horsepower four-cylinder in the base F-Type pales in comparison to what the R trim has under its hood: a supercharged 5.0-liter V-8 that makes 575 hp. Mated to the standard eight-speed automatic transmission and with standard all-wheel drive, Jaguar says this engine will go 0-60 mph in just 3.5 seconds.
4. Intelligent Technology
The F-Type gets Intelligent Driveline Dynamics control technology, which weaves together several features — like dynamic stability control software, continuously variable electronic dampers, and revised electronic steering, among others — to adjust the characteristics of the drive.
5. A Lot for the Price
The base four-cylinder model of the F-Type starts at $62,750 (all prices include destination). The more powerful F-Type R starts at $104,350, and as you add options, you can easily go north of $130,000. That’s … expensive. But when you consider the cheapest Porsche 911 only starts at $100,550, it feels like you get some bang for your buck with the F-Type.
6. Interior Finishes
The style continues on the inside, where every surface feels carefully and artfully designed. The top R trim gets quilted Windsor leather on comfortable performance seats and real metal trim. The 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster comes standard and is configurable to your liking, with an option to make it a full navigation map.
Cons
1. Wandering Steering
In its normal driving mode, the steering feels loose and requires almost constant correcting to stay in your lane. In the F-Type R, you can fix this by switching into R mode, which tightens up steering control (just remember to switch every time you startup).
2. Multimedia System Is Almost There
The 10-inch multimedia touchscreen is easy to read and reach, and its interface works much faster than before. But it still doesn’t have an option to “beep” when you touch the screen, which would aid usability.
3. Low on Trunk Space
You shouldn’t ask for family-car levels of cargo space from a sports car, but you might struggle to store the few things you do need in the F-Type’s small trunk. A carry-on suitcase will fit, but an average-size golf bag will be a squeeze.
4. Gimmicky Extras
When you unlock the car, the exterior door handles pop out, and when you turn on the dash vents, the central climate control vents do the same. These features seem unnecessary and feel like the sort of thing that will wear out quickly.
Base Price: $103,200 ($109,990 as tested)
Engine: Supercharged 5.0-liter V8
Horsepower: 575 hp
Torque: 516 lb-ft
0-60 Time: 3.5
Transmission: 8-speed automatic with paddle shifters
