2017 Jaguar F-Type SVR has exceptional new fumes. I drove the auto in Monterey, California, where there’s this passage right amidst town. You see where I’m running with this.
The channels appended to the “typical” F-Type R’s supercharged 5.0-liter V8 is a bombastic mob, a standout amongst the showiest wind segments in cutting edge deplete dom. And after that Jaguar‘s Special Vehicle Operations, the gathering of crazy people in charge of Project 7, tags along and tears everything out for the SVR. The room is required for a back diffuser, see. So another framework is fabbed utilizing two extravagant light-weight compounds, Inconel and titanium. A couple of suppressors sprout where one used to be. More. Better. Louder. Yes, the majority of that.
Wow, it’s boisterous. What’s more, there’s this passage, recall. Enter it and lift from the throttle, and it sounds just as there are a few children stowed away in the storage compartment hurling modest bunches of M-80s out the back. “Huge report” is the thing that it’d say on the crate if the F-Type SVR were a firecracker. It’s emotional, maybe intemperate. Scratch that – it’s unquestionably over the top.
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This F-Type is only the second full-production effort from Jaguar Land Rover’s SVO, the first being the Range Rover Sport SVR, and so it’s also the first Jaguar SVR ever. Whereas that Range Rover combines quickness with surprising cross-country abilities, the F-Type SVR has a singular mission: Go faster. And so, with a tweak of the electronic limiter and some other fiddling, voila! suddenly the coupe can reach a top speed of 200 mph. The convertible is not far behind at 195.
Although there aren’t many places in the world where you’ll actually want to probe those max velocities, the engine’s 575 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque are plenty to risk your license. The SVR adopts many of the engine improvements that hoisted Project 7 to the same power level but bests that very special car’s torque figure thanks mostly to new intercoolers. Remember, the regular F-Type R is only good for 550 hp. Only. What a world we live in.
Aside from the added power, this is much more of a range-topping special trim than it is a significantly different model. Like the R, the SVR comes only with all-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic transmission. Operating it in manual mode is more pleasant, in part because the paddle shifters behind the wheel are made out of aluminum instead of plastic like on other automatic F-Types. They feel nice, and the transmission shifts quickly and authoritatively, the generous torque spread helping if you’re a gear higher than would be ideal. If companies keep calibrating automatics like this, manual-transmission enthusiasts will find less and less to grumble about.
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Hours away from that tunnel in Monterey, the hilly country offered a more neutral sound stage on which to evaluate the car’s charms. Long straights and tight wood-lined sections revealed that the free-breathing pipes produce a rawer and flatter note than the R’s exhaust. It’s still pleasant, but the active exhaust valves don’t quite let out enough rumble at idle. If you’re paying for the most special F-Type around, you’d probably like to be reminded of it all the time. Ditch the fancy titanium valves and let the cat breathe free, I say. At least the thin-walled piping is good for 35-pound weight savings.