Overall Rating:  

It’s said that absence makes the heart grow fonder. A year has come and gone since we first experienced Jaguar’s latest range-topping variant of the F-type, leaving us with separation anxiety and a mild case of cat-scratch fever. The cure comes thanks to this new exposure to the company’s Special Vehicle Operations department and its all-in F-type SVR convertible.

HIGHS
Copious grip, easy to launch, damn good-looking.
LOWS
Not any quicker, twitchy at the limit, Porsche 911s exist.

It’s Got the Looks

Part beauty-pageant contestant and part muscle builder, this F-type looks the part. The SVR’s provocative exterior is mildly tweaked in the name of performance. The reworked front fascia incorporates larger air intakes along with nostrils in the hood to aid cooling. To keep the car stuck to the ground at Jaguar’s advertised top speed of 195 mph, vents are sculpted into the front fenders to prevent front-axle lift, while an SVR-specific diffuser and a larger wing aid downforce in the rear.

The interior, delightfully appointed in leather with contrast stitching, is visually marvelous. The heated, 14-way adjustable bucket seats with SVR headrest embroidery are bolstered just enough to keep the flab in place but aren’t so aggressive as to induce pain. Polishing off the alluring interior in our test car was a $750 carbon-fiber center console, $450 illuminated doorsills, and $1100 worth of leather for the headliner and visors. The convertible top does a reasonable job of keeping wind noise at bay when raised; by our stopwatch, it needed 12 seconds to lower and 15 seconds to raise. When stowed, the softtop renders the trunk essentially useless, leaving just enough space for a duffel bag. Our example augmented the SVR’s base price of $129,795 with the aforementioned interior dress-up bits and $138 worth of locking lug nuts and a Jaguar license-plate frame; the as-tested sticker rang in at $132,233. That’s certainly not chump change, but the SVR looks and feels every bit of the premium cost.