New 2020 Jaguar F-Type breaks cover

• • New Jaguar F-Type on sale now
• • Prices start at £54,060
• • Six-cylinder engines dropped

The updated Jaguar F-Type has been unveiled, with a mid-life refresh aiming to keep it competitive with rivals like the Porsche 911 and Mercedes-AMG GT. Jaguar’s expecting the F-Type to remain part of its range until around 2022, when the current car could be replaced by a fully electric sports car.

Tweaked styling makes the 2020 F-Type stand out. The changes are most noticeable at the front, where the car gets slimmer, more aggressive looking LED headlights like those fitted to the Jaguar XE, instead of rounded units mounted higher up like in the outgoing model. Two different headlight units are available depending on trim level. There’s also a reshaped front grille that holds the number plate, a sharper looking chin spoiler said to be influenced by the Jaguar F-Type Project 7 special and a vented ‘clamshell’ bonnet.

Best sports cars

Other styling changes include a subtly redesigned tailgate, tweaked brake light clusters and the use of Jaguar’s logo on the side strakes instead of lettering.

22

The quality - both material and construction - of the interior seems to have improved, although some of the elements remain the same. There’s still a prominent grab handle, and the air vents still rise when you activate the climate control. Sit in the old and new cars back-to-back and you’ll notice more soft-touch materials in the latter, and the seats are trimmed in softer leather that feels more upmarket.

A 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster is fitted, as is a new central touchscreen that offers Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility for the first time. The system is also capable of over-the-air updates to make sure it’s running the latest software.

For now, the engine range has been slimmed down to just two engines, a 2.0-litre four-cylinder, and a 5.0-litre V8 available in two power outputs. A six-cylinder mild-hybrid is expected to arrive later, with the 394bhp straight-six used in the Range Rover Sport HST the most likely option slotting into the range above the unchanged 296bhp 2.0-litre engine (badged P300).

There are two versions of the brutish 5.0-litre supercharged V8 engine; a 444bhp (P450) option with either rear- or all-wheel-drive, and the range-topping Jaguar F-Type R with 566bhp (24bhp more than before) and standard all-wheel-drive. In this model, 0-62mph takes just 3.5 seconds. It effectively takes the place of the discontinued SVR model, with new adaptive dampers, lots of suspension changes and wider 20-inch alloy wheels. Both V8 models get a new switchable active exhaust, featuring a ‘quiet start’ mode to not wake up your neighbours on early morning starts. An eight-speed automatic gearbox is the only option across the range.

P300 Coupe models kick off the line-up, with a price of £54,060. Sporty-looking R-Dynamic versions cost £3,000 extra, and you’ll need to add £5,480 to each car if you want the fabric-roofed convertible. Highly specced First Edition models cost £63,530 and £68,150 for the coupe and convertible respectively, while the R comes starts at £97,280 (coupe) or £102,370 (convertible).

Read our review of the Jaguar F-Type convertible and coupe, and see where it places on our list of the best-looking cars on sale today.