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  • What cars do you test the new Jaguar F-Type against?

  • The great debate seems to center around whether it's a

  • Boxster or a 911 rival.

  • Luckily for us, this is the V8 S model, which as tested here

  • is 91,695 pounds.

  • So that fixes one problem--

  • it's a 911 rival.

  • Or is it?

  • It only has two seats.

  • And it's way more powerful.

  • It's also much more aggressive looking, perhaps more of an

  • occasional car than a 911.

  • In fact, its closest rival on paper is the

  • Aston Martin V8 Volante.

  • The Aston is less powerful, but offers similar packaging

  • and a heap of beauty.

  • So that's how we came to bring a Jaguar, a Porsche, and a

  • slightly older Aston Martin together.

  • The Jaguar's numbers are emphatic.

  • The supercharged V8 has 495 horsepower.

  • But somehow, the aluminum structure

  • weighs 1,665 kilograms.

  • I know.

  • I don't understand, either.

  • The V8 S gets an active electronic rear diff and 380

  • millimeter front disks.

  • It also has 460 foot-pounds of torque, and that genius

  • eight-speed automatic ZF gearbox.

  • When I first saw the F-Type pricing, I

  • thought they'd gone mad.

  • But digest that little lot, the price doesn't

  • look too bad at all.

  • The Aston is an old car now.

  • But it's still so pretty.

  • It only has 420 horsepower and 346 foot-pounds of torque.

  • And it's another chubby aluminum

  • chappy at 1,710 kilograms.

  • Is British aluminum just lead in disguise?

  • Still, you get a lovely proper six-speed manual gearbox here,

  • and possibly the best badge of the lot.

  • German aluminum must be lighter.

  • The 911 is the only car here with four-ish seats, and yet

  • it weighs just 1,465 kilograms.

  • Its 400 horsepower is way down on the Jag, but its power to

  • weight ratio is kind of up there, as is the price, a

  • crazy 97,816 pounds for this car.

  • I'm not a fan of the strange seven-speed manual in the 911.

  • This car has one.

  • Let's hope it doesn't spoil things.

  • Oh, and the test car has the normal steering and the

  • standard S chassis.

  • So which is better to drive on road, on track, or perhaps

  • more importantly for cars of this type, to be seen in?

  • I think we need to stop getting too caught up in this

  • Jaguar F-Type hype and remember that if you wanted a

  • very cute, quite compact, two-door, British-built

  • roadster, there's been one available for the

  • best part of six years.

  • And it's called the Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster.

  • No one else seems to care about it.

  • Everyone seems to be obsessed with

  • comparing this car to Porsches.

  • I thought we'd get a V8 Vantage out and try to remind

  • ourselves why it's a rather lovely little car.

  • This car does have quite a bit in common with the Jaguar.

  • It, too, has a kind of bolted,

  • welded-cum-glued aluminum structure.

  • And yet, despite being aluminum, it's quite heavy.

  • It's 1,690 kilograms.

  • Electric top, quite compact, two-seat cabin with no space

  • behind the seats, quite a long bonnet, quite a stumpy bum.

  • Yeah, it takes less space up on the road

  • than the Jaguar, though.

  • And I have to say, despite not being the new kid on the

  • block, it still does some things that can really teach

  • the Porsche and the Jaguar a few lessons.

  • To start with, we have hydraulic power steering.

  • I've got a lovely manual gear change with three pedals.

  • That's a novel thing, isn't it?

  • People should try that, this manual gearbox thing.

  • It's really rather pleasant.

  • It's normally aspirated, and it makes this noise.

  • [CAR ENGINE]

  • Which, it has to be said, is a rather lovely noise.

  • And I suspect over time, Aston Martin has really learned how

  • to set spring and damper rates against the inevitable lack of

  • stiffness in the chassis because there's no roof.

  • I'm not saying it's not actually very good, because it

  • is quite good.

  • But the car just seems to ride rather nicely.

  • And it's well damped for UK roads.

  • I was expected to represent this car

  • as a bit of a dinosaur.

  • And do you know what?

  • I've had a lovely two days in it.

  • I think it looked beautiful from the outside, too.

  • And that has to be counted.

  • It's not normally something I care about.

  • But in this test, looks really count.

  • This car feels its age inside, though.

  • You've got these rather horrendous Vanquish-era air

  • vents, which I think are probably a

  • Ford or a Volvo product.

  • The ergonomics are all over the place.

  • It doesn't matter too much because some of

  • it looks quite funky.

  • But the dials that move backwards and the fact that

  • when there's any sun in this cabin, you cannot see any of

  • the services whatsoever is a pain in the back side.

  • And the main control button you use for all your computer

  • stuff is hidden behind the gear lever.

  • So yes, it does feel old.

  • It is getting old.

  • But it's a very charming car.

  • Trouble is, it's the most expensive car in the test.

  • But flip side, it's got an Aston Martin badge on it.

  • And I still think that probably carries more kudos

  • certainly than a Jaguar badge and maybe

  • even a Porsche badge.

  • As I drive this car on the road, I'm getting a bit more

  • buffeted in here than I got in the Jag and certainly the 911

  • with its wind deflector up.

  • And I have to say, it is a sort of 8 and 1/2 10ths car.

  • If you drive it up to 8 and 1/2 10ths, it's very good.

  • The steering response is especially pleasant if you put

  • the car accurately on the road.

  • And it's enjoyable.

  • You don't really feel any creak in its inner structure.

  • Push a bit beyond that, which I know is a bit ridiculous

  • because it means you're traveling at silly speeds, and

  • you start to feel it slip a bit behind the Jag, and

  • especially the Porsche.

  • It just can't match the Porsche's feeling of almost

  • being a coupe that happens to have a very large sunroof.

  • But I'm impressed.

  • I thought this would feel much, much older.

  • And it doesn't.

  • We all know the dangers of something being overhyped,

  • like the big night out organized with your mates

  • months in advance.

  • When you do it, it's never quite as good as those

  • impromptu ones, is it?

  • Well, the F-Type is the worst kept secret of 2013.

  • But on the road, it's a damn fine thing.

  • This is what's good about the F-Type as a V8 S with 495

  • horsepower.

  • Well, it's got 495 horsepower, and it's not very big.

  • It's a muscle car.

  • It's naffing fast.

  • Jaguar claims 0 to 100 miles an hour in under nine seconds,

  • and it's entirely believable.

  • I love the way it looks.

  • I love the image it presents.

  • I love the fact that it can chop between being a sort of

  • leave it in drive, very, very fast GT cruiser, but when you

  • snap it into manual, this ZF gearbox, such good manual

  • shifts, you really have something quite sharp.

  • I love the fact that it's not too stiffly sprung, and that

  • it's well damped.

  • And it rides really very well over UK roads.

  • I love the fact the structure's really very stiff.

  • And the steering column remains resolutely in place,

  • far better than in the XK.

  • I like the cabin on the whole.

  • It's a little bit trying too hard in places.

  • But it works well.

  • And it's got some lovely special touches.

  • Listen to that noise.

  • I mean, that's ridiculous.

  • [CAR ENGINE]

  • The noise?

  • Well, the noise will be for some people an utter

  • celebration of everything that's right

  • about a sports car.

  • For other people, they'll hate it.

  • It's too ostentatious and too loud.

  • There's a button here.

  • You can turn the exhaust down.

  • But even then, it's still pretty raucous.

  • Let's break it down then into steering, chassis, engine,

  • brakes, that kind of thing.

  • Steering, really very little feel whatsoever.

  • But we're used to that with modern cars.

  • My problem is not with the steering apparatus itself,

  • which is fine, not brilliant.

  • A Boxster steers better than this car.

  • Anyone that says it doesn't is lying if you ask me.

  • It's the steering wheel itself.

  • This larger steering wheel and paddle set up is taken from

  • the larger XJ Saloon.

  • And it works fine there.

  • But the center of the wheel's very low.

  • And the paddles are sort of weird, rubberized finish, but

  • painted gold.

  • And their action is very un-special, for want of a

  • better phrase.

  • I just thought the Jaguar could have tried a bit harder,

  • given how well the car actually shifts, to give us

  • something a bit more special.

  • To me, it feels a bit ordinary.

  • And the steering hold really is so thick.

  • It doesn't need to be this thick.

  • I need to be a gorilla to get my hands around it.

  • I know.

  • Make the obvious jokes now.

  • Ride and handling, very, very clever for UK roads.

  • Difficult to fault at normal speed, I have to say.

  • The biggest problem I have is how wide the car is.

  • You see, it is a very wide car, the F-Type, perhaps wider

  • than is strictly necessary.

  • And on UK roads, I'm aware of it more than I want to be in

  • what should be a Boxster rival.

  • Even in a 911, I don't think about the width of the car the

  • way I do this one.

  • Brakes are pretty good.

  • There's a general feeling of

  • disconnection in the car, though.

  • It's not really bad.

  • But in both the Aston and the Porsche, I just feel like I'm

  • more connected to the road than I am in this.

  • You can take that either way.

  • You can either say it gives this better GT credentials

  • than the other two.

  • Or perhaps there's something that's just

  • slightly missing there.

  • Not that it isn't exciting, though, the noise, the sheer

  • speed of it, and the character of the car

  • really shines through.

  • Does it really need to weigh well over

  • 1,650 kilograms, though?

  • That's the bit that worries me.

  • It's not a big car.

  • And it's hundreds of kilograms more than even the 911.

  • I found that really weird.

  • And when I get in the car, and I start it up, and the exhaust

  • makes that lovely, boomy burble, and then, these air

  • vents rise up out of the dashboard, it does make you

  • think, those were electric motors doing that.

  • Why does that need to happen?

  • Is that necessary in a sports car?

  • Has Jaguar got its priorities slightly wrong?

  • I'm not sure.

  • It's given us a car that's so much more than a slightly cut

  • down XK on the road, though.

  • This is, for UK roads, a very, very

  • clever car, lovely indeed.

  • [CAR ENGINE]

  • How on Earth does Porsche make a hybrid construction, ie,

  • steel and aluminum car, that's lighter than both of the

  • all-aluminum British cars?

  • I don't know.

  • But this car is under 1,500 kilograms.

  • And it's quite a big thing.

  • And it's got four seats.

  • That's alchemy, isn't it?

  • [CAR ENGINE]

  • On the road, the 911, I'm afraid to say it, shines.

  • It really does.

  • The structure is the stiffest.

  • It doesn't shimmy so much over bumps.

  • And therefore, it feels like the suspension has a better

  • chance of keeping the wheels on the road.

  • The steering column is better located.

  • So even though it's electric and a bit arcade game like,

  • this car can be placed more accurately than the others.

  • It also feels like you're better

  • connected to the road surface.

  • And it just gets better the harder you push.

  • The engine--

  • the engine has a real zip and a zing to it.

  • Take it out to 7,500 RPM, and you feel like you're in an

  • expensive, special sports car.

  • Which is interesting, because quite often, I feel the 911 is

  • a bit ordinary.

  • This cabin, it's quite generic Porsche, isn't it?

  • Nicely put together, nice materials.

  • Like the exterior, very nice, very pleasant.

  • But not that special.

  • I'm not sure the 911 is the eye candy anymore.

  • Now that the F-Type has come along, I think it's making a

  • few problems for Porsche.

  • This seven-speed manual gearbox is

  • really improving, though.

  • The first versions I drove a couple of years ago really

  • weren't very good.

  • I tend to treat it as a six speeder and just forget about

  • that seventh ratio.

  • But I'm quite enjoying using this manual one.

  • And again, as an open top car, there's a bit more of a

  • driving experience, I think it's important that you can

  • get a manual gearbox and that Porsche deserve to

  • be praised for that.

  • It's very fast.

  • It's agile.

  • You can get two kids in the back.

  • It's got more luggage space than the F-Type.

  • It's just a cleverer car than the F-Type.

  • But it's lacking several things that the Jaguar offers

  • in the specialness department.

  • Maybe if we go to a track, we can explore that

  • a little bit more.

  • [CAR ENGINE]

  • The Aston is the slowest of the three cars.

  • Just on power to weight ratio, you can really

  • feel it on the circuit.

  • And it's got quite long gearing.

  • But for what I think of as a very soft roadster, it's

  • really very good around [INAUDIBLE].

  • Now, you can be fooled into thinking that the Aston

  • understeers the most.

  • It doesn't.

  • It just doesn't have as much power as the others.

  • So to make it oversteer as I'm trying there requires a load

  • more throttle.

  • And you can't use the momentum as much as the others.

  • I know this is irrelevant for little roadsters.

  • But it's worth having a go, isn't it?

  • There you go, use the momentum.

  • And suddenly, it feels very rear driven.

  • And it's a very pleasant experience.

  • The steering's nice and tight.

  • As I said, on a bumpy circuit, this thing acquits itself

  • very, very well.

  • Braking's good.

  • The only thing with the Aston is there's a slight mismatch

  • between the control weights.

  • The steering's not too heavy.

  • The gear lever takes a right old shove, though.

  • The clutch is quite light, but the throttle's quite heavy.

  • You do get used to it, but it's just slightly odd.

  • Doesn't stop it being rather good fun when it's moving

  • around, though.

  • This is so irrelevant, isn't it?

  • But we need to tell you how these cars handle.

  • So I have to go to a circuit and skid them about.

  • It's only correct, you know.

  • Slow it down, and it's a long sort of straight through

  • [INAUDIBLE]

  • going at a fair old lick now.

  • Keep it pinned.

  • It's a lovely, neutral car, actually.

  • Again, on the circuit, just like on the road, it doesn't

  • feel as old as it should do.

  • And I really like the manual gearbox, more simple

  • interpretation of the genre.

  • [CAR ENGINE]

  • Yeah, this is a really good car.

  • The F-Type V8 S is loud, very fast, and when you cock about

  • with it, smoky.

  • [LAUGHS]

  • There's smoke everywhere coming in the cabin.

  • It's not subtle!

  • Oh my god, it's exciting.

  • We've got the suspension stiffened up now.

  • We're in a dynamic mode.

  • And unlike the others, even in fourth gear, too, you have to

  • watch the throttle just in case it starts to spool up.

  • This one has an electronic locking differential.

  • But it feels quite natural to me.

  • It's 10 miles an hour faster down the straight than the

  • little Aston.

  • It does feel a bit more remote.

  • The steering wheel's too big and too heavy.

  • But if you just look at the throttle--

  • look at that!

  • I could do that for days.

  • Now, wait for the smoke to come out of the cabin.

  • There it comes!

  • Why does it do that?

  • I don't care.

  • It's so exciting.

  • I don't know what car Jaguar set out to

  • make with the F-Type.

  • But I didn't expect it to be this raw.

  • This is not a Boxster rival in that it's not

  • delicate and neat.

  • It's a thug of a car.

  • And its character is really, really addictive.

  • Sensational fun, really sensational fun.

  • And if you drive it sensibly, it's a very balanced chassis.

  • It does have some understeer.

  • But that's almost immaterial in a car like this because

  • it's got so much torque.

  • There's the understeer.

  • Move on the throttle.

  • There's the oversteer.

  • They are centimeters of throttle apart.

  • You choose your angle in this car.

  • That's a big angle.

  • There's a complete mismatch at work with the 911 convertible.

  • When you see it on the road, you just think, ugh,

  • convertible 911.

  • It's a girl's car.

  • It must be rubbish and flabby and wobbly.

  • And then, you drive it.

  • And honestly, it feels possibly the most

  • aggressive car here.

  • The engine's razor-sharp.

  • It's got a manual gearbox.

  • And it is just fantastically direct.

  • Listen to that engine.

  • I don't doubt that around this circuit, it's the

  • fastest car, too.

  • I'm not timing them because it makes no difference to me.

  • But as a driving experience, certainly,

  • it's right up there.

  • I'll just try and describe it to you.

  • The engine, normally aspirated,

  • revving out to 7,500.

  • Sounds superb, really great down this straight, doing 130,

  • matching the Jaguar down there.

  • We'll take third coming into quarry.

  • Second, we have a pendulum, remember.

  • So we can just get the back of the car going and ride it all

  • the way out.

  • There are very few others cars that could do that.

  • And it's a fantastic feeling.

  • It also feels that little bit lighter than the others here.

  • You can take liberties, too.

  • It has that classic slight delay at front axle that you

  • get on a 911.

  • Once you get up it, you can neutralize the car and steer

  • it on the throttle.

  • Brakes, very good.

  • Really good brake pedal, as well.

  • But it's the engine that stands out, actually.

  • It's so zingy.

  • It wants to really crack on.

  • This is, for me, the most connected car here, as well.

  • From the steering, even though it's electric, to the chassis,

  • to the feel that's coming through my backside, this is

  • the one that feels the most sporting.

  • Strange, isn't it?

  • Because on the outside, it looks like it should be

  • cruising down The King's Road.

  • [CAR ENGINE]

  • And that's supposed to be the unmanly 911.

  • What's the GT3 going to be like?

  • The Aston Martin is the oldest car here.

  • It's the most expensive.

  • And it's the slowest.

  • So you won't be surprised to hear the objectively, it's

  • also the loser here.

  • But for many people, if you're looking for an attractive,

  • normally aspirated car with a manual gearbox, it might be

  • the best car here.

  • Because in this test, the loser happens to be an

  • extremely desirable machine.

  • It acquitted itself far better than I expected for

  • something that old.

  • This Jaguar, this is different to what I expected, too.

  • This is like a muscle car, a small, British muscle car, all

  • about torque and performance and just hanging onto it and

  • enjoying the ride.

  • It's not subtle.

  • It's not a Boxster rival.

  • It's brutal.

  • It's also quite expensive, which means it had to be

  • tested against the 911.

  • This car is 97,000 pounds.

  • And in many ways, it's not special enough.

  • But actually, if you delve deeply into the driving

  • experience, this is the best car here.

  • For me, the harder you push it, the better it gets.

  • And it's the most resolved.

  • It's the car that clearly has been developed

  • with the most cash.

  • But does that matter in the final reckoning?

  • For me, only one car here has that absolutely killer show

  • room appeal.

  • And it's the F-Type.

  • Oh, that's the smoke again.

  • How does it do that?

  • Why does smoke come out of the footwell when

  • you're doing skids?

  • Answer me that one.

  • I'm going to do another lap.

What cars do you test the new Jaguar F-Type against?

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