iatourist.com: Jaguar F-Type debuts at Paris 2012: V6, V6 S and V8 S

Thứ Năm, 27 tháng 9, 2012

Jaguar F-Type debuts at Paris 2012: V6, V6 S and V8 S

Here’s Jaguar’s Paris debutant, an all-new sports car model called the Jaguar F-Type, which joins the other two new cats, the XF and XJ, in the model lineup. Inspired by the C-X16 concept from 2011, the new F-Type is front-engined, rear wheel drive, and seats two. Like the XJ, it’s built on an all-aluminium construction.

Three different engine tunes are available. The baseline F-Type uses a 3.0 litre supercharged V6 making 340 PS at 6,500 rpm and 450 Nm between 3,500 rpm to 5,000 rpm. Take it up a notch and the F-Type S produces 380 PS at 6,500 rpm and 460 Nm from 3,500 rpm to 5,000 rpm with a tuned up version of the 3.0 litre supercharged V6. The top of the line for now is the F-Type V8 S which uses a 5.0 litre supercharged V8 producing 495 PS at 6,500 rpm and 625 Nm of torque from 2,500 rpm to 5,500 rpm. No mention of an F-Type R as of now.

Jaguar’s all-aluminium construction is a truly brilliant thing – it means using the same 3.0 litre diesel engine. As a reference for example, a larger limo-sized car like the XJ can accelerate to 100 km/h faster than the smaller XF, which has less extensive use of aluminium in its structure.

In the F-Type’s case, it gives the V8 S model a torque to weight ratio of 375 Nm per tonne, in which simple maths reveal the model to weigh 1.66 tonnes. As a comparison, the SL500 is around 1.8 tonnes. The V8 S does the century sprint in 4.3 seconds. The V6 and V6 S does the same in 5.3 seconds and 4.9 seconds respectively.

With the F-Type, the aluminium architecture has been optimised to provide the stiffest possible underpinnings for the suspension with rigidity gains of more than 30% in key areas compared to any other Jaguar application. It features an all-aluminium double wishbone front and rear suspension and a quick-ratio steering rack.

All models are mated to a eight-speed Quickshift transmission, but curiously the rotary gearbox that JLR has been putting into all of its Jaguar and Land Rovers is missing on this car. I was also wondering where the centre aircond vents were at first, but then saw a second photo where the entire dash top in the centre raises to reveal the vents.

The V6 S model includes a Dynamic Launch feature, which optimises acceleration from standstill. An active exhaust system, which is standard on the S and V8 S models, open under load from 3,000 rpm which allows the exhaust note to build to a thrilling crescendo at the redline. There’s an active rear spoiler which deploys at speed to reduce lift by about 120 kg.