What's the news?
OK, so you know the Jaguar F-Type, right? Staggeringly gorgeous, entertainingly tail-out handling, sounds like a mobile artillery barrage. And that's just the V6. Well, what if you fancied an F-Type but just thought that the current V6 S with 380hp and the V8 R with 550hp were just a bit... lacking?
Well, Jaguar has the answer. The F-Type SVR is the work of the same Special Vehicle Operations inmates, sorry, engineers, who created the 550hp Range Rover Sport SVR. Not content with making a ballistic Land Rover, they've now given an F-Type enough grunt to achieve escape velocity.
In what must surely be one of the last rolls of the engineer's dice for Jaguar's long serving (it's been around since 1996) V8, it's been cranked up to provide 575hp and a whopping 700Nm of torque. All of that is provided to all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission.
Due to be officially unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March, the SVR had its details leaked online this week, so that we now know that it's been lightened, slightly (thanks to light, forged alloys, a titanium exhaust and carbon-ceramic brakes. Jaguar is officially claiming a top speed of 322km/h (that's 200mph for those of you tuning in on the wireless) and unofficially it'll crack 0-100km/h in just 3.7 seconds. There'll be a convertible version as well as the coupe, and that will have a slightly lower, 310km/h, top speed.
Jag has given the F-Type a major aero overhaul to help it deal with the extra grunt and pace. There's a deeper front spoiler and splitter and a much bigger rear wing and diffuser.
Prices? Don't expect change from €250,000 to land one in Ireland.