The renewed Jaguar F-Type gives up the V6 engine, but will it ever return?

Jaguar has just renewed one of its wildest cats, the F-Type, a fearsome sports car that has been updated to keep pace with the Porsche 911 and the Mercedes-AMG GTs, two of its main rivals. Although this is not a new generation as such, the British brand has applied substantial changes to its favourite child, helping it age more gracefully, a task that will help it keep winning over potential customers and continue offering a range of engines full of personality and sportiness.

Thanks to a new redesign that places particular emphasis on the front end, the Jaguar F-Type features sharp, slashed headlights that adopt a new position capable of adding a generous dose of aggression to the whole. The rear, which still retains a quad exhaust outlet, is complemented by taillights featuring new LED lights and a design that fits within this new visual language.

The cabin has also been modified, where the already dated analogue instrument cluster has been replaced by a 12.3-inch digital display. This is complemented by a central unit that can connect to our smartphone via Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a system that continues to lend modernity to the British sports car.

However, the mechanical side was what worried many F-Type enthusiasts when they learned that it would undergo an update. That concern was fuelled by the strict anti-pollution regulations manufacturers must meet, which make homologating a vehicle with the character of the Jaguar F-Type genuinely tedious. Fortunately, the British brand let us breathe easy by revealing that the supercharged V8 remains intact, but what about the V6?

Until now, the British marque allowed customers to choose between a more modest four-cylinder, a V6 and a V8, but the intermediate option has been eliminated with this facelift. As a result, buyers can now choose either a 2.0-litre engine delivering 300 CV and 400 Nm of torque or, alternatively, a 5.0-litre V8 available in two variants, one with 450 CV and another with 575 CV, the latter taking the F-Type R badge.

This leaves Jaguar with a gap in the F-Type range, a model that now jumps from a four-cylinder straight to a V8. However, we should not rule out the possibility that the British company is tweaking its V6 or working on a successor that employs mild hybridisation. Either way, we will be watching the brand’s moves closely, as it could surprise us at the next Geneva Motor Show.

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Technical specifications of this car

RoadsterJaguar F-Type8 versions · from 82,600 €