The verdict: The 2024 Jaguar F-Type R75 convertible may feel dated on the inside, but with stunning exterior looks and a raucous V-8, it’s hard not to fall in love with it from behind the wheel.
Versus the competition: Even at $120,000, the 2024 F-Type R75 convertible is a relative performance bargain — and it has a soul some competitors lack — but it’s fallen behind technologically, and with this being its final model year, it’s not going to catch up.
Jaguar plans to end F-Type production after the 2024 model year, and it’s sending the two-seat sports car off with new special edition trim levels inspired by its racing and sports car heritage. For this test, I drove a convertible version of the top R75 trim, which comes standard with all-wheel drive and a high-performance 575-horsepower, supercharged 5.0-liter V-8.
Related: 2024 Jaguar F-Type Enters Final Year of Production With 75 Special Edition
When I first started working at Cars.com nearly a decade ago, the Jaguar F-Type was close to brand-new and one of the first cars I fell in love with on the job. That love has lasted because of — or maybe in spite of — the fact that Jaguar has made minimal changes to the F-Type during its run. There have been a few tweaks — Jaguar gave it a facelift for 2021, revising the suspension of R models and adding more modern technology, and the available drivetrains have seen tweaks over the years — but the 2024 model I drove recently felt entirely familiar.
I won’t pretend that a small convertible with a screaming supercharged V-8 under the hood isn’t fun to drive; it absolutely is. It elicited nearly the same grins from me that it did almost a decade ago, but is the F-Type leaving with a roar or a whimper? That took some figuring out.
Smiles by the Mile
Driving an F-Type R75 is a mostly delightful experience, with a range of characteristics to match your desired mood. In its Normal driving mode, the car is surprisingly and pleasantly sedate. The ride is comfortable, the throttle isn’t twitchy (despite the nearly 600 horses lurking under the hood) and the brakes aren’t too grabby. City driving and commuting are possible without much frustration.
Switch the car into its racy R Mode, though, and everything noticeably sharpens and tightens, making the F-Type feel like a ready partner for canyon carving. The steering is direct and communicative, and the adaptive exhaust roars under hard acceleration with one of the best exhaust notes I’ve ever heard. Though I didn’t drive a 2024 coupe, my experience with previous F-Type coupes leads me to believe it will feel a smidge sharper than the convertible. If that’s the only problem with the convertible, though, it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to live with in order to better hear the exhaust sing. Impressively, the F-Type remains fairly livable in R Mode; it was my preferred driving mode. You can also customize the suspension, drivetrain and steering settings to get the best of all worlds.
The eight-speed automatic transmission that’s standard on all versions of the F-Type deserves praise, too. It snaps off shifts with ease, and while there are paddles mounted on the steering wheel that allow you to change gears yourself, the transmission does its job so well, I found myself ignoring the paddles. That said, the response is excellent if you do use the paddles, so there is fun to be had with them.
There are, however, some compromises — maybe even flaws — in the driving experience. The ride isn’t overly firm, but it can feel brittle over larger bumps and even smaller ones that occur in quick succession; impacts reverberate throughout the chassis. This isn’t unusual for a sports car with a shorter wheelbase, but driving Chicago’s pockmarked highways in the F-Type was occasionally unpleasant, and going over bumps while cornering sometimes knocked the car off balance. The F-Type’s steering can also be busy, requiring frequent corrections to keep the car from wandering too much. This is more prevalent in the F-Type’s more relaxed steering settings, so drivers may want to keep the steering in a sportier setting, though that will add effort to lower-speed maneuvers.
Outward visibility in the convertible is another compromise, especially for taller drivers. The car sits very low, and the front windscreen is raked in such a way that I had a hard time seeing traffic lights when I was first in line at an intersection. The convertible’s integrated windscreen does a great job reducing wind intrusion with the top down, but it interferes with the view in the rearview mirror. The soft top offers some sound insulation when it’s up, but a lot of road and wind noise still infiltrates the cabin.
Luxurious Comfort for Everyone (Max: 2)
Visibility and noise issues aside, the F-Type’s cabin is lovely, with comfortable seats and high-quality materials on nearly every surface. The cabin is snug, but I never felt cramped. When Jaguar last updated the F-Type’s interior, it added a 12.3-inch digital instrument panel and a 10-inch touchscreen display, and those remain today. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are included, but that’s really the extent of the technological advancements in the F-Type’s cabin. The remaining audio and climate controls are physical and easy to use, and there are physical controls on the center console for raising and lowering the convertible top, selecting a drive mode and adjusting the adaptive exhaust. Compared with some luxury cars with complex control systems, the F-Type’s setup is simple, straightforward and sincerely appreciated.
With its luxurious interior and calm demeanor in normal driving, one could assume that the F-Type has morphed into something of a grand tourer, but that’s not the case; the interior and lack of cargo space refute that notion. Snugness aside, there are only two seats; competitors like the BMW 8 Series, Lexus LC and Porsche 911 offer something that at least looks like a backseat (though I’ve yet to meet a human being of any age who can safely fit in any of them). Grand touring also requires at least some cargo space, and the F-Type’s trunk is sports-car small. One editor was able to fit a Costco-sized package of toilet paper in the trunk but not much else; any luggage larger than a carry-on suitcase will probably be a stretch. Even a single golf bag is a stretch, giving the Chevrolet Corvette a leg up on the F-Type, too. This isn’t so much a flaw, though, as it is simply a reality. The F-Type is for driving enjoyment and not much else. That’s fine.
What’s not fine is that the 10-inch touchscreen is very difficult to see when the top is down even in indirect sunlight. Being unable to see the screen could be an inadvertent safety feature — if you can’t see the screen, you won’t try to operate it while driving — but the truth is people will try. The Mercedes-AMG SL, meanwhile, has a built-in tilt feature for its screen that can operate automatically when the top goes down to ensure you can see the screen. The F-Type can’t do that because its screen is integrated into the dashboard, not mounted on it as in the Mercedes. Even when you can see the screen, the graphics are dated and the interface itself is unintuitive and slow. And as luxurious as the interior feels, the shift paddles feel like cheap plastic, and multiple editors noted excessive squeaks and creaks coming from the dashboard.
So Long, Farewell
Even with those issues, I enjoyed every second I spent driving the F-Type. I would even argue that those issues give the F-Type a bit of character, which is something that’s sorely lacking in most cars today; nearly everything is some degree of fine at worst. The F-Type’s dated tech and creaky but comfortable interior, meanwhile, feels incredibly on brand for Jaguar; it just made me love the F-Type even more.
The F-Type R75 we drove had an as-tested price of just a hair under $120,000, making it very much not a cheap vehicle — but it’s still something of a value purchase when you consider its performance. The similarly powerful Mercedes-AMG SL 63 starts at more than $180,000, and the cheapest AWD Porsche 911 convertible is $136,150 before any options. BMW’s M850i xDrive is less powerful and only slightly less expensive than the Jag, but the higher-performance M8 Competition convertible costs tens of thousands more than the F-Type I drove.
I’ll be sad to see the F-Type go; it’s a beautiful car full of character and surprising performance value. But it’s also clearly behind the times for 2024; it’s been neglected by Jaguar as the brand makes its transition to an all-electric lineup, and hopefully, any electric replacement that comes along will have even half the F-Type’s character.
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