It's probably a step beyond the F-Type that any of us could
live with every day. That doesn't intrude on what it is—a fearless middle
finger at the future of cars, with a leering eye at their past.
SVR, from SVO
The F-Type has hacked its way through the sports car jungle
since it was new in 2014. It's taken a couple of years for Jaguar to flesh out
the lineup. In three model years, the convertible has been joined by a coupe,
then
an awesome F-Type Coupe R
edition, then manual-shift and all-wheel-drive editions.
Now Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations gets a
crack at it, and in the process, neatly sums up what the F-Type is all about
with the SVR.
It's the first of the brand's aluminum-hulled sports cars to
hit a claimed 200 mph. I didn't quite reach that epic milestone, but at Spain's
Motorland Aragon circuit, with a pro co-pilot and two passes, I saw 175 mph
indicated, and it wasn't even the trickiest part of the day.
Motorland's an unforgiving place. Sharp off-camber bends
whip into steep descents, the bus stop recreates the feeling of being run over
by an actual bus. Oh, and then, the longest, most tempting reaches dump you
right into a second-gear hairpin.
SVR bits and pieces
The SVR nailed those passages down as flat as it possibly
could, with a wicked rasp and haymakers of oversteer.
SVO starts with the Coupe R configuration, then tweaks
everything to push the F-Type SVR to a frontier shared with the Mercedes-Benz
AMG GT and Porsche 911 Turbo. The Jaguar dumps in more power, all-wheel drive,
enhanced aero bits, dynamic upgrades, and some subtle cues to give fair
warning—the SVR recipe from here forward.
For power, the F-Type SVR taps Jaguar’s supercharged
5.0-liter V-8 for higher output rated at 575 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of
torque. The 8-speed automatic gets even faster shift speeds (no, the SVR
doesn't have a manual), and the all-wheel-drive system has more radical
settings for shifting power from the rear to the front, and for coordinating
power between the rear wheels.
Jaguar says the SVR coupe rockets to 60 mph in just 3.5
seconds, with convertibles taking a couple of ticks longer. Top speed is 200
mph for the coupe and 195 mph for the roadster.
Along with the power boost, the SVR has its own programming
for shift points, steering, stability control, and suspension damping.
Its pushiest driving mode dramatically lifts the yaw limits for the all-wheel-drive
and stability control systems, which can be turned off completely.
Hardware upgrades include a front roll bar that's 5 percent
softer; the rear bar's mildly stiffer too. The 20-inch wheels trim some weight
and hide some stiffer knuckles at the rear. A new titanium-alloy exhaust system
cuts weight and puts the SVR on a two-pack-a-day voice lessons.
Aero gets its own massage, with big front air intakes and a
rear venturi, underbody trays, and an active rear spoiler that cuts lift when
it rises to go to work (at 60 mph for the convertible, 70 mph for the coupe,
all the time when Dynamic mode's selected).
Weight is down 55 pounds in base-price trim, but add the
$12,000 carbon-ceramic brakes and swap in pricey carbon-fiber pieces for the
roof and chin spoiler and the SVR is down about 110 pounds.
Finally, at its feet, the SVR wears custom Pirelli P Zero
tires; 265/35ZR-20s in front and 305/30ZR-20s at the back.
Those treads are in charge of knowing when the SVR needs to
let all holy hell break loose—which it does often, and easily, when provoked.
Strafing the empty quarter
Outside of Barcelona, Spain opens up into a lacy network of
roads, most of them built after union with Europe. Handsomely paved
superhighways, pristine secondary roads—it's what California could have been
with better upkeep.
The F-Type likes a careful set of hands on the controls,
even here.
The toggle on the console suggests what's about to happen in
iconic forms. There's a very special snowflake for that kind of weather.
At the opposite end of the toggle, there's a checkered flag
for other special moments when you'll want to twiddle with its adaptive
dampers, shift timing, throttle progression, and steering feel.
Let it alone when trundling through charming and eerily
quiet towns. Without touching a thing, the SVR's snaps, crackles, and pops of
overrun draw stares. Some approving, some not.
The SVR's more supple than expected, even on roads that are
wrapping around stone houses, winding up through canyon passes that could
double for Ortega Highway. Jaguar's preserved the ability of its adaptive
dampers to adapt to street driving, more than can be said for a GT350. The
carbon-ceramic brakes don't grab or squeak, but they don't have much
travel or nuance, either.
The steering forces attention. It darts and sniffs out
corners while the suspension takes more of a wait-and-see attitude. A Coupe R
is no luxury liner, but by contrast, it's a better at mundane stuff like
trolling through traffic.
Roll up into Motorland's paddock, then roll out of the pits,
and the SVR begs you to let that checkered-flag switch drop.
Riveted, glued
Egos flicker to life, and head socks turn us all into an
militia of petty thieves as we helmet up for a run at 200 mph.
Phones go into silent mode and so do drivers. The SVR's body
is riveted and glued, which is the same way to describe the attention Motorland
begs to be paid. Apexes spring up like unwhacked moles, braking points shake
you by the collar. It's one manic Mobius strip.
Instructors prep us on the way to the cars, but the entire
focus—to the point of shutting them out—is listening to what the car's
suspension, steering, brakes and tires, and right pedal are saying.
The SVR spits and snarls its way to life on the most
brilliant ribbon of pavement of the day, from the first roll-out into a hot
corner. Flicked into Dynamic mode and stability set to adult-level permissions,
the SVR is ready to party.
Wheelspin is one backing track, but the big shivers come
from the SVR's custom exhaust. It cuts loose insane levels of overrun, a string
of exhaust expletives whenever you back off the throttle.
Goose it, and the SVR is happy to cut corners to the bone,
dump its contact patch with the earth, and let loose a slide worthy of a
rear-driver, if only for a moment. Its all-wheel-drive system is playful but
not evil: it pulls everything back in line in concert with the P Zeros so long
as they're able to keep a grip.
Still, those high-speed moments of oversteer come on fast
and heavy through a corkscrew more dastardly than the one at Laguna Seca. The
SVR can move power around front to back, and side to side in back, but it can't
brew miracles. It's taught to exaggerate almost every driving gesture, so
careful modulation of the throttle and the steering wheel gets drilled into you
to shake off sloppy corner work.
At first we're routed through a moose-test of a chicane,
with a tease of Motorland's longest straight at its end. Two laps later, that bus stop
is de-kinked, and the track opens for top-speed flirting.
Drop out of a downhill bend, then pinball out of a
left-hander, and it's pure temptation. Pin the throttle, and the SVR soars
faster, and higher, than ever in an F-Type. For a moment, 175 mph shows up on
the clock.
What seems like hours later—or just a half-second—it's
full-stomp braking. Stand on the low-travel, high-resistance pedal, let the
carbon-ceramics file off speed, and the SVR judders lightly as you paddle down
into second for a late, late hairpin.
Do the run twice and it gets easier, but never normal. It's
like base-jumping between Petronas towers. Whomever designed this track was
sleeping with the devil.
source: http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1104431_we-go-spanish-flying-in-the-200-mph-126945-jaguar-f-type-svr-first-drive-review/page-2
by Marty Padgett
http://www.boscheuropean.com
