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Jaguar InControl Touch Pro Infotainment Review | Improved, but far from the best

The infotainment systems in Jaguar or Land Rover vehicles over the past many years have been a cause for concern. They’ve been slow to respond, lacking in features and lagging behind the high-tech luxury competition by a wide margin.  Software updates and newer, better hardware keep coming, though. That being the case, it's time to take another look at what the latest infotainment system from Jaguar can do and how it goes about its business. We happened to be in JaguarÂ’s freshest product on the market for this test, too, the 2021 Jaguar F-Type R. Watch out for a full test on that car soon. Jaguar names its tech the Jaguar InControl Touch Pro system, and itÂ’s running on every model but the ancient XJ. The refreshed XE is also distinctive in that itÂ’s running the Touch Pro Duo screen setup that replaces the vast majority of the physical climate controls with a touchscreen. To get a visual guide and watch the screen in action, check out the video above.  In addition to the central screen, we also dive into the fully digitized instrument cluster thatÂ’s become the standard for other Jaguar models. The F-Type gained the screen this year, and it operates similarly to all the others.  On the surface, JaguarÂ’s infotainment system is rather simple and modern. ItÂ’s a clean UI thatÂ’s free of the many frills and fancies you might find in a Mercedes or Audi. YouÂ’ll never get lost in a sea of menus or settings a la BMW iDrive, as Jaguar never allows you to dive several levels deep. ThatÂ’s good for simplicityÂ’s sake and makes operating the system a cinch once you learn where the functions are. JaguarÂ’s bottom row of frequently used items is a perfect place to start, because thereÂ’s a good chance that youÂ’ll rarely need to stray from this small subset of functions. Both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto boot right up via a wired connection. They worked without issue all week long in the F-Type without glitches or failures to operate. In fact, we were generally impressed with this infotainment system and the accompanying digital cluster. It was only plagued by the occasional stutter or long pause between clicks, but not as often as in past Jaguars and Land Rovers. Unfortunately, itÂ’s tough to keep up when the German competition seems to be running systems that are faster, more fluid and bursting with features. Admittedly, some of those features are things that may never be truly useful and add to their aforementioned complexity.

2014 Jaguar F-Type, Project 7 Concept snarl in Jay Leno's Garage

Jay Leno gets to drive a lot of nice cars, and the Jaguar F-Type V8 S he pilots in the latest episode of Jay Leno's Garage is no exception. Eric Johnson, vice president of Jaguar Western Region brought the car to Leno's garage, which impresses the comedian with its 5.0-liter V8 that makes 495 horsepower, 460 pound-feet of torque and a muscle car-like roar.
But there's a surprise this episode: Leno secured a drive in the Project 7 Concept at Pebble Beach this year, and the experience was caught on video. Based on the F-Type, the Project 7 is a functional concept car that nods to Jaguar's seven wins at Le Mans and features bespoke styling cues, a special exhaust system and, perhaps most importantly, 50 more horsepower from the supercharged V8.
Watch the latest episode of Jay Leno's Garage in the video below. You'll need a little over 23 minutes to see the whole thing.

Jaguar F-Type Project 7 arrives Stateside for $135k*

There are a great many things we love about the Jaguar F-Type, but one of them is that, whatever price point you're looking at, there's an F-Type for you. (Well, not any price point... this is a Jag we're talking about, but pricing varies greatly.) Got $65k to spend? That'll get you into a base F-Type V6 coupe, and you'll likely be happy for it. Eighty grand will get you into an F-Type V6 S, $90k into a V8 S roadster, and a cool hundred grand will get you the top-of-the-line F-Type R coupe. But what if you want to spend more than that? What if you've got more like $165,000 in your pocket and it's burning a hole when it should be burning rubber?
Well we've got good news for you, friend, because that's exactly how much the exclusive F-Type Project 7 will set you back. Making its US debut during Monterey car week, Jaguar has announced that the most exclusive version of its two-seat sports car - revealed in production spec just recently at the Goodwood Festival of Speed - will cost $165k in the US (plus the standard $925 delivery charge). That's roughly the price of an F-Type R and a base F-Type V6.
For all that scratch, you get an open-top roadster with 575 horsepower on tap - more than any production road car Jaguar has ever made before, and that includes the XJ220 and ultra-rare XJR-15 supercars. The most potent version yet of Jaguar's ubiquitous and long-serving 5.0-liter supercharged V8 is enough to send Project 7 to 60 in 3.8 seconds and on to an electronically limited top speed of 186 miles per hour.