2014 Jaguar F-type V6 S – Winter-Friendly Car

Winter-friendly options are earning their keep just now, but we may regret not having fitted wipers to the side windows

2014 Jaguar F Type V6 S roadster

Sideways Challenge is back. At least, it will be, on these pages in a few weeks. It’ll be a bit like the old days where we name a most sideways driver, but also a most sideways car. And you don’t plan a feature like that without a Jaguar involved.

So even though the last time that we planned a track feature with this Jaguar the engine detonated itself and needed replacing (Jaguar now tells us that there is no way of knowing what broke, but all indication at the time pointed to a head gasket), the long-term F-type has been getting sideways. And that’s something at which it is extremely adept.

The F-type’s engine gives itself a little rev on start-up with its exhaust in angriest mode, thus announcing itself to the world

2014 Jaguar F Type V6 S Interior

You’d expect nothing else, I suppose. The front-engine, rear-drive layout and claimed 50 per cent front, 50 per cent rear weight balance is the kind of set-up from which sideways dreams are made, especially when you factor in the V6 S’s mechanical limited-slip differential.

The base V6 model has an open differential, and the more powerful V8 S has an electronically controlled diff that takes a fraction longer to hook up (and would add about 15kg to the rear of this car, thus affecting the balance). The V6 S, then, sits in the Goldilocks zone.

More detail later in March when the feature runs, but I will tell you that the F-type went out, and returned, from Oulton Park’s rally stages with everything intact.

Thanks to a diligent surface choice, even using the F as a guinea pig while we were setting-up our data-logging hardware, the Pirelli tyres have come away intact. Even so, the rears are starting to look a touch worn. We’re going to try Dunlops next (also original equipment) and see how we get on.

The drifting is the sort of activity, on the type of surface, that makes cars absolutely filthy, so the F has since been lovingly washed by yours truly, whereupon I concluded that I think I was right about this colour: I’m happy with it and it looks excellent when clean and in bright sunshine (some hope), where the strong metallic content shines through. But like many dark colours, it can get smeary when you try to clean it, and if it’s dirty, it can look a touch flat.

Trouble is, with an F, there isn’t a huge choice of colours, Of the 12 on offer, seven are along the grey scale: one white, one silver, two greys and three different blacks. Then there are three reds/orange, one green (British racing) and only one blue (this one). A pity, I think. The coupé is the same, too; although on the online configurator, at least, it suits the dark blue rather less to my eyes. It wants a racier colour.

Jaguar F Type V6 S white version

The current iffy weather has brought a couple of things to the fore: heated seats and a heated steering wheel. Normally, I’m a fan of an Alcantara-trimmed wheel and would pick one over any other finish, but the ability to keep your hands toasty of a morning is a godsend. Slightly confusingly, meanwhile, the cabin features two temperature dials even though dual-zone climate control is an (unfitted) $ 583.66 option. The heated seat control is on the same dials, so the interior temp gauges just both read the same. This winter-friendly F-type also has a heated windscreen, specifying which at $ 2251.26is part of a visibility pack that includes auto headlights and wipers. Throw all of those things together, though, and you’ve a car that is welcoming even on the coldest and greyest of mornings.

Less welcoming for neighbours, mind, because the engine gives itself a little rev on start-up with its exhaust in angriest mode, thus announcing its awakening to the world. It’s a nice touch, but I wish it were switchable, or bright enough to realize that, if you’re starting it at 5.30am, not everyone in the vicinity wants to know about it. An industry colleague raised a decent point the other day, too: these revvy start-up rituals are all very well, but for those of us instructed not to rev cars until the oil has circulated a bit, is it bad for the engine?

I suspect that the revs don’t rise high enough to give any great concern — I will make a note the next time that I do a cold start of how many revs are applied — but it’s an interesting point. (Requiring a third engine would be careless.)

Anyway, for now, all is well. Does the Jaguar go sideways? Yes, quite a long way. Full details in a few weeks.