Even though it claims to offer greater agility than the V6 for a bit less money, the Jaguar F-Pace 2.0 Turbo seems like the sort of car that goes straight to DVD. It was launched a few days ago, but you won't find any awesome drift videos or compelling reviews. The ones you might stumble across, however, tell a positive story.
Far from being a watered down eco sportscar, the 2.0-liter version of the F-Type is feistier, more energetic. Engineers didn't just drop an engine from a family car into the sexist coupe this side of the market; they apparently tweaked nearly everything.
One Austrailian review goes as far as to say that the steering rack, brakes, and 8-speed gearbox are configured the right way for this car. Of course, this could also have something to do with the mid-life updates.
You can still brush the F-Type 2.0 aside as a Boxster or Cayman copycat. Even though it's got about as much power as the Golf R - 300 PS and 400 Nm of torque - it takes 5.7 seconds to reach 100 km/h because of the weight. But there's 55 kilograms less of it over the front axle, and this review says you can explore the limits of performance more easily.
You can make up your own mind about the sound. As an avid listener of 2.0-liter hot hatchbacks, this doesn't sound exotic enough to be a Jaguar in my book. But the howls made by the forced induction system are admittedly pleasing.
Taking money into consideration, one of these downsized F-Types starts at 49,900 of Her Majesty's pounds, about £4,000 cheaper than a V6 with a manual. You trade 0.3 seconds off the acceleration time, 40 HP and 50 Nm, but will average 40 mph combined or 7 l/100km... supposedly.
I honestly don't think it will be a trendy choice because you don't see that many people going for the basic 911 or Cayman. But it's not going to go down in history as a crummy neutered car either, like a 316i hatchback or the naturally aspirated Toyota Supra.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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