At standstill, it looks as if it’s ready leap out of the block like a
seasoned sprinter. Start the engine, and it is pure aural delight. And then you
drive it. Jaguar’s F-Type reeks of raw power, from its looks to its sound to
the way it drives
You see the
mouth wide open, its evil fangs bared as it lunges ahead. The beast has its
sights set firmly on you. The tingle in your spine intensifies and the hairs on
your nape stand to attention. There is no way you can outrun this animal. As it
steadily closes in, you know that it is one beast that can gobble, chew and
spit you out in the blink of an eye. All you can do is dodge it and move out of
its path. All too soon, it is almost upon you. Time slows down as your eyes widen, your ears wide awake to that wild growl. You veer off
its path at the last moment, and it passes you by in a flash. You’ve just had
your tryst with the animal called the jaguar. But before we proceed, in case
you’re wondering whether we were describing a deer’s-eye-view of what it’s like
to be hunted down by the panthera onca
– Jaguar in common parlance – you couldn’t be further from the truth. But the
Jaguar we were referring to – the F-Type Convertible – is no less a beast than
the big cat it takes its name from.
With its good moves and graceful looks, the
Jaguar F-Type is easily the most desirable sports car in the market
Seen
through a rear-view mirror, the face of the F-Type with its gaping wide grille
and the centrally placed silver Growler badge can strike fear in your heart.
It’s menacingly aggressive and makes you want to move out of its way. But it’s
also a beautiful car, no matter what angle you look at it from. Stand a few
feet away and look at it from the side, and you can’t help admiring its sleek
bold lines. That steeply raked windscreen combined with the fat haunches and its hunkered down stance – there is no gainsaying that the
Jag is sheer visual poetry.
For a sports car with a low stance, it is
fairly easy to get in and out of the F-Type. Buttons for seat adjustment are
placed on the door in Merc-like fashion. Needless to
point out there’s leather luxury all around
Inside too,
the F-Type is a feast for the eyes. It’s either leather or carbon that meets
the eye wherever you choose to look. The sport bucket seats, the meaty steering
wheel and the grab-handle for the passenger (should you choose to have one) and
even the dashboard are all finished in fine leather while the centre console has sufficient carbon-fibre
to satisfy your sport-lust.
e
Discreet paddle shifters in burnt
orange peep out on either side of the steering wheel. They fall within reach quite
naturally and are a joy to use
The seats
themselves are adjustable any which way you like: high, low, ahead, kicked
back, roomy, tight-hugging, with lumbar support, or without. The options are
all there. You just have to get comfy. And then you save that setting so that
you don’t have to re-adjust every time someone else drives the car (though we
very much doubt you’d willingly part with the keys of this beauty). Any talk
about fit, finish, quality and such like becomes pure formality in the Jaguar.
Everything here is top-class. Needless to say, it’s all pretty ergonomic too.
One does need to take a minute or two to familiarise
oneself with all the controls, though. The sporty instrument cluster has a
multifunction display that shows all the necessary info flanked by the twin
large dials of the speedo (on the left) and the tacho
(on the right), which is red-lined at 6,500 RPM.
