Navigation*heated Seats*non Smoker*we Finance on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2016 Jaguar F-Type debuts available manual transmission, AWD

If you're like us, you fell in the deepest, darkest sort of love with Jaguar's F-Type the moment its voluptuous form first surfaced. The car's full-bodied engine specs only furthered our ardor, and the droptop Jag sealed the deal before we even turned a wheel - all it took was hearing its engine bark to life.
And yet, even after driving the original convertible and the subsequent coupe, we've never quite shaken the notion that Jaguar erred a bit too heavily on the Grand Touring side of the equation for a proper sports car. That's partially because even the base model comes with a boatload of weight-adding luxury features. But perhaps more importantly, it's because the F-Type has only been available with an automatic transmission. Admittedly, the gearbox in question is a damned good paddle-shifted eight-speed ZF unit, but it's always chafed a bit that Jaguar wasn't committed to offering purists a manual - even if such a model would never be a high-volume proposition.
Apparently we weren't the only ones bothered by three-pedal omission. According to Russ Varney, F-Type Vehicle Program Director,

Jaguar testing hardcore F-Type R-S GT?

Some automakers make a hardcore model, then sit back and revel in its awesomeness. Jaguar does things a little differently. It takes a standard production model, gives it more power, bigger brakes and a tighter suspension and slaps the letter R on it. Then it gives it even more power, even bigger brakes and an even tighter suspension and calls it an R-S. Sometimes the engineers in Coventry don't even think that's enough, so they strip out some weight and dial things up even further and call it an R-S GT.
So far, they've only gone that far with the XK (transformed first into the XKR, then the XKR-S, and finally the XKR-S GT), but with that model on its way out, Jaguar seems to be preparing to give the newer F-Type a similar treatment. Now we can't be sure that what we're looking at is an F-Type R-S GT, especially since the 550-horsepower engine from the XKR-S and XFR-S is already powering the existing F-Type R Coupe, but it does seem to have all the makings of a hardcore performance model.
Compared to the existing F-Type, the development model pictured here has a bigger front splitter (like the one on the Project 7 concept), a big rear wing and a set of what looks like pretty big lightweight alloys. It's also, tellingly, a roadster, which (unlike the coupe) has until now topped out at 500hp with the V8 S model. So while it may be hard to say exactly just what Jaguar has in store for us here (or what they'll call it), one thing's for sure: it's gonna be fast and loud.

Jaguar F-Pace SUV teased on YouTube [UPDATE]

UPDATE: Stuart Schorr, Jaguar Land Rover North America's VP of communications, reached out and explained that the Detroit section of the F-Pace video was recycled from the car's confirmation announcement at the 2015 North American International Auto Show, shown here. "There is 100 percent no subliminal message and Frankfurt is the debut location," Schorr told Autoblog. The story has been edited to reflect this information. With the Jaguar F-Pace slated to debut in less than 90 days, at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show, the teasers are starting to ramp up. That means videos like this, featuring Jaguar design master Ian Callum, which give us short, sweet peeks at the British brand's very first crossover. The big teasers come in the form of Callum's drawings of the F-Pace, combined with short clips of its headlights and taillights as it zooms around the streets of downtown Detroit. That said, none of the images shown are so dramatically different from the C-X17 Concept, the vehicle that previewed the production model and makes an appearance here. We aren't really sure why the Motor City features in the teaser, considering the F-Pace is being unveiled in Germany, but one of the final sequences sees a set of taillights streak past Cobo Center, home of the annual Detroit Auto Show. It's a weird decision to be sure, and leaves us wondering just how much truth there is to reports of the Frankfurt debut. Why would Jag make such a decision if the D weren't going to play some role in the car's future? Take a look at the video up top, and let us know what you think of Jag's first F-Pace teaser. Is there any particular design detail we missed? What do you think of the potential Detroit connection? Head into Comments and let us know.