2022 Jaguar F-Type R-Dynamic P450 RWD review

The Jaguar marque needs little introduction – its place as one of the all-time greats in sports car manufacturing is uncontested. And, despite a period in the wilderness where it wandered off its traditional course, the brand's release of the F-Type for the 2014 model year signalled a rollicking return to form.

Stunning, muscular, powerful, RWD, and evocative, the F-Type was everything a Jaguar sports car should be. Importantly, the engine options available meant that it didn't just look the part.

Spending time with the Jaguar design team leading up to and following the launch of the F-Type, there was a palpable sense of the task in front of them. Designers know, and carry the weight oftentimes, of what the public and fans of the brand will expect when a new model is coming to fruition.

And, with the heritage of a brand like Jaguar, there was some appreciable weight on the shoulders of the design team to not only look forward, but also pay due respect to the past.

For a time in Australia, there was a dizzying array of models and specifications to choose from, along with an eye-watering list of options. Testing an F-Type was an exercise in researching spreadsheets and price lists. What it does mean, though, is that no two F-Types you see in the traffic are likely to be identical.

It did make the buying decision a little muddy, though. Now, as we bid farewell, the offering has been simplified to ensure it's easier to choose the F-Type that suits you best.

With Jaguar preparing to go electric in 2025, the future is effectively now, and it means the curtain has been drawn on a legend. Let's say a reluctant farewell, then, to a modern icon and future classic.

Finding direct competitors to the F-Type is an interesting debate to have. On one hand, a Jaguar buyer wants a Jaguar, so it's unlikely they will have spent too much time looking at other badges. However, when you look at the numbers and take the emotion out of it, a raft of interesting alternatives present as options.

The Chevrolet Corvette comes as a convertible, there's the Mercedes-AMG C43 Cabriolet, and the Lexus LC500 are all around the same sort of asking price. Convertibles might not be as popular as they were in the glory days of the roadster, but there's plenty for buyers to consider in the premium space.

Our test F-Type starts from $171,148 before options and on-road costs. With options added, the price runs out to $184,828 before on-road costs. Two flavours of coupe are available, starting from $171,029 and $278,373 before on-road costs respectively. The latter is the fire-breathing R with AWD. One convertible model is available, as per the price listed above.

The exterior remains, almost a decade on, a study in sensuous sports car design. You have to take a very long drive to find someone who thinks the F-Type is anything but attractive. On any road, in any company, no matter whether you're on the move or at a standstill, the F-Type is an attention-grabber – so much so that I found myself driving with the roof on to fly under the radar as best I could.

Our test car gets the $4740 Exterior Black Design Pack, 20-inch five-spoke gloss-black alloy wheels, and red brake callipers for a smattering of custom touches. I remember testing a bare-bones four-cylinder F-Type and thinking that it looked sensational in a minimalist way, so whether you can 'improve' on that is up for debate.

Crucially, the F-Type looks as good with the roof up as it does with the roof down. The other feature we love – although not as obvious – is the front and rear DRL signature. There's no doubt – even on a dark road – that this is a Jaguar F-Type.

The answer to this one is not a lot, but what did you expect from a compact, two-door sports car? Crucially, there's handy enough storage inside the cabin for your wallet, keys and phones, but if you're carrying a handbag, that will be going either on the seat or the floor.

Or the boot, of course, where you've got a useful, but compact, 233L of storage. The boot is maximised by the removal of the space-saver spare, and instead there's a tyre repair kit for emergencies. On that note, if you're a dyed-in-the-wool road-tripper, I reckon you should opt for at least a space-saver spare to get you out of trouble.

The F-Type's cabin ambience is enhanced by the premium cabin lighting fitted to our test model, but it's worth noting that if you're over the six-foot mark, it's going to be a bit of a squeeze. You'll fit, but headroom is tight for occupants beyond that height. The way you can sit right down into the cabin is a positive, though, and resonates strongly with the sports car expectation.

Central to the onboard technology is the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, which the driver can tweak to suit their preferences. There's also a 10-inch touchscreen that controls the infotainment system and worked neatly for us on test. Graphically, and in terms of its functionality, it's not on par with the standard-setters now, but it works, and works reliably. The satellite navigation display also looks a little old-world in terms of the display.

That won't matter to most of you, though, because it is accurate when you use it, and you also get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto via the wired connection. We used both smartphones on test, and they both worked without issue. Plenty of systems still have dropout issues, but the Jaguar didn't. I'm happier using my phone's mapping than the proprietary system in any case, and I reckon most of you will do the same.

DAB+ radio is also standard, and while the audio system wasn't an exotic optional premium one, it pumped out quality tunes even with the roof down, via a 10 speaker, two subwoofer system.

The F-Type has no ANCAP rating for Australia, having not been tested by our local body nor overseas by Euro NCAP. As such, the Jaguar F-Type is not alone, with other sports cars like the Porsche 911 and Lexus LC also missing out on an NCAP safety assessment. It's fair to say that other Jaguars, like the XE tested in 2015, and I-Pace tested in 2018, both achieved maximum five-star results.

Standard safety equipment includes autonomous emergency braking (from 5–80km/h, or up to 60km/h for pedestrian detection), lane-keep assist, front and rear parking sensors, driver attention monitor, and four airbags. The coupe gets six airbags. There's also a rear-view camera, which was clear for us on test.

Given the litany of safety equipment we're seeing on all-new vehicles (including Jaguar's own), it's fair to say the older F-Type is a little skinny on standard features in 2022 terms.

Given the five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, and complimentary included servicing up to five years or 130,000km, the value of the F-Type once you own it is pretty hard to argue. There's also five years' roadside assistance into the bargain.

Anyone buying an expensive European car should be heartened by the fact that, in this instance, servicing and maintenance are included up to a set timeframe. Consumables will still have to be paid for, of course, so don't go thrashing your brakes and expect to get replacement pads or rotors for free.

Our F-Type will cost a healthy $3630.39 per annum to insure based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

In real terms, when you're regularly reading about medium SUVs with hybrid drivetrains that use mid-5s around town, the Jaguar's 10.6L/100km claim might seem a little high. But given the fire-breathing V8 and the theatre that comes with it, our indicated test return of 13.7L/100km was well under what we'd be happy to consume for a car of this type.

In short, though, do you really care if you're buying an F-Type? Probably not.

Regardless of how good the F-Type looks, the proof with a car like this is in the driving. For mine, owners need to feel a sense of occasion every time they get behind the wheel, and the F-Type delivers exactly such a sense of occasion.

The styling is one thing, but so too is the driving position, the view out the windscreen, the engine and exhaust notes, and the thunderous way it piles on speed. There's little doubt the F-Type is a sensational driver's car.

There's a menacing idle, and more often than not you'll be flicking the exhaust switch to open, just so you can get as much of it entering the cabin as possible. The engine's note, even at idle, provides some sort of hint as to what lurks beneath the sumptuous exterior.

On that note, the F-Type is capable. 0–100km/h takes just 4.6 seconds, and top speed is 285km/h with the wind doing a bit to ruin your hairstyle at that speed too. No matter, our tester has the $790 wind deflector.

Its 331kW and 580Nm get the 1793kg F-Type moving with some serious scorch if you need or want to, and it never feels slow on any road. You can coax the rear tyres to let go pretty easily if you've got the electronics turned off on-track, but with them operating on-road, it's a fun proposition no matter how challenging the road you're on.

With the supercharger whining away, you get a smooth kick in the backside, too, if such a thing exists, right up to redline. While there isn't the savagery of turbos coming on boost, there are reserves of power you'll never access on the road. With the increasing revs, there's an increasing bellow from the exhaust pipe reminding you in none-too-subtle fashion that there's some serious speed being piled on.

I loved the way the F-Type struck a balance between a modern muscle car and a classic front-engine, rear-wheel-drive sports car. The steering is precise and responsive. It turns in without asking for armfuls of lock, and stays on the line you've dictated.

While all-wheel drive was a smart option for the wilder F-Types, the purist in me loves this model for its rear-wheel drive purity. You won't easily forget that the F-Type is a wide, relatively weighty sports car, even though it never feels slovenly. If anything, it mostly hides the weight it does carry, especially on poor road surfaces.

Back to the steering for a second, it's got a heft to it that I really like. Not overly assisted, but not too heavy either, it strikes a near-perfect balance between what we expect of it at low speed in town, and what we demand of it at higher speed in corners.

Despite the drop-top, the F-Type's chassis is neatly controlled and devoid of disconcerting scuttle shake. The ride is firm, there's no escaping that, but it's not harsh, even on a rutted national park road, with the suspension system absorbing bumps easily and settling quickly too.

Either at speed or around town, the eight-speed automatic is an excellent transmission. In AWD guise, we felt like it behaved slightly differently, but here in RWD form it shifts beautifully either at full noise or more sedately. The same goes for manual shifting at speed, with the auto performing flawlessly. Hold a gear right up to redline, and it simply punches the next gear as you hit the paddle.

Head for your favourite country road early in the morning, drop the top, and point the nose into the corners. It's an enticing proposition on any road, any day of the week. If you measure a car by the desire to which you try to take the longest way home, the F-Type is a phenomenon.

Despite whatever trivial negatives there might be – and we've had to nitpick to find them aside from the infotainment – you should absolutely buy what will almost certainly be the last of its type on the road.

The F-Type has always been a stunning sports car in any company, and the styling has aged both gracefully and beautifully. It looks striking, the engine is still a feat of internal-combustion brilliance, and it feels special every time you drive it. A V8 engine and RWD is a fitting farewell.