The Jaguar F-Type is a love letter to car enthusiasts. Combining styling reminiscent of the legendary E-Type with available V8 muscle, it’s genetically engineered to appeal to buyers’ hearts. But emotion will only go so far, so Jaguar is giving the F-Type a host of upgrades for the 2021 model year, including revised exterior styling and an upgraded infotainment system.
The F-Type remains fundamentally the same car that launched in 2013 (as a 2014 model), but Jaguar gave it a face-lift. The LED headlights are now slimmer, and the taillights seem to have taken some cues from the electric Jaguar I-Pace. The grille is wider and deeper than before, and the hood has been redesigned, according to Jaguar. You can still get the F-Type as a coupe or convertible.
The interior design is largely unchanged, but the tech is significantly upgraded. The 2021 F-Type gets a standard 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Instead of analog gauges, the driver gets a 10.0-inch reconfigurable digital instrument cluster. The infotainment system can also receive over-the-air software updates, according to Jaguar, although that capability doesn’t apply to the rest of the car. Jaguar kept analog controls for important features like temperature and audio volume, which should strike a good balance between tech flashiness and functionality.
The F-Type continues to be offered with four-cylinder, six-cylinder, and eight-cylinder engines, but only the latter gets an upgrade. The F-Type R model’s 5.0-liter supercharged V8 is now rated at 575 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque — increases of 25 hp and 14 lb.-ft. That happens to be the same output as the previous F-Type SVR model, which Jaguar did not mention as being part of the 2021 lineup. Also unmentioned was any hybrid powertrain, despite Jaguar’s goal of adding hybrid or all-electric powertrains to every model beginning in 2020.
Base F-Type models continue to use a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, making 296 hp and 295 lb.-ft. of torque. The midrange option is a 3.0-liter supercharged V6, with 380 hp and 339 lb.-ft. Four-cylinder models are rear-wheel drive, while the V6 and V8 are all-wheel drive only. An eight-speed automatic transmission is standard across the board.
Even the base four-cylinder F-Type will do zero to 60 mph in 5.4 seconds, with a top speed of 155 mph, according to Jaguar. At the other end of the spectrum, the V8-powered F-Type R will do zero to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds, with an electronically limited top speed of 186 mph. The F-Type R can’t match the old SVR’s 200-mph top speed, as it lacks that model’s aerodynamic aids, which provide stability at higher speeds.
Pricing for the 2021 Jaguar F-Type will be announced closer to the sports car’s arrival in showrooms, likely sometime in 2020.
