Jaguar F-Type P450 R-Dynamic slides into seventh at MOTOR’s Performance Car Of the Year 2022

The British rear-drive V8 Jaguar F-Type P450 coupe earned a hard-fought seventh at Performance Car of the Year 2022.

On paper, the Jaguar ought to struggle. It’s the slowest car in the PCOTY field and its handling tends further towards the grand touring end of the spectrum. Then you recall that the last time we featured an F-Type with rear-drive and a V8, it resulted in a podium spot at the 2014 edition of PCOTY. Game on.

But where that car was the full-noise 405kW F-Type R, eight years later we have the milder 331kW P450 R-Dynamic RWD. It’s the car that absolutely nobody at PCOTY is talking about. All of which suits me, because the keys are available for me to snatch and head out for a surreptitious evening drive on our road test route.

The brakes, the steering and the power delivery are not beyond reproach. The steering has a strangely elastokinematic feel and the brakes initially feel over servoed. The engine sounds incredible at wide open throttle, but so addictive is the noise that you can’t help but poke the bear at virtually any opportunity. As a result, you rarely drive the Jaguar subtly, instead pointing and squirting it down straights, revelling in the sheer intensity of its soundtrack.

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It’s one of the most feel-good cars in the entire competition and the great part is that it doesn’t egg you on to ridiculous speeds in order to entertain.

On the circuit, the dynamic repertoire is a little soft around the edges. The chassis is more benign than its wide track, short wheelbase proportions suggest, and once you learn to trust the front end, there’s a decent amount of grip. The steering again disappoints and the final corner sees the car run to the limiter, an upshift introducing a shock to the drivetrain that results in a heart-in-mouth high-speed shimmy.

Against the clock, it’s the slowest PCOTY car on a lap and the attraction of the eight-pot acoustics pall a little when you’re full throttle for so much of the time. The bawdy build to crescendo that you so enjoy on road becomes a constant blare on track. Then you pull into the pits, rub your right knee that’s been smashed against the edge of a speaker and forgive the Jaguar virtually anything because it looks so beautiful.

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“If I didn’t need a four-seater, I’d buy the Jag. It’s awesome. Yet if I were a judge, I’d place it last and that’s just down to the strength of the field this year,” said Luffy. “I think Phillip Island is a good track for it,” noted Giunco. “I was constantly making mid-corner inputs trying to figure out what the steering was up to,” said Affat.

Perhaps the departure of Mike Cross from Jaguar’s engineering team will change that. Cross delivered some great Jaguars but had a personal penchant for light and quirky-feeling steering.

A meatier, more direct EPAS system would do a lot to build confidence in what remains a strong and otherwise well-judged dynamic package. A rear-drive F-Type R with revised steering? That could have really upset the established order.

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The judges’ comments

Alex Affat

“Feels unresolved at the limit, but what a charmer. Engine is by far the star of the show.”

Ranking: 6th

Andy Enright

“You probably wouldn’t have bet on a supercharged 5.0 V8 netting PCOTY’s lowest power-to-weight.”

Ranking: 6th

Trent Giunco

“I found the steering particularly annoying through the long radius corners here.”

Ranking: 8th

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Cameron Kirby

“I quite liked the cadence of the F-Type’s body control on road. Wait for it to get planted and then go.”

Ranking: 6th

Bernie Quinn

“There’s a springy, artificial feeling that seems dialled into the electrical steering assistance.”

Ranking: 8th

Luffy’s view

“If we’d have been at Winton, the ESC would have kicked in constantly. Phillip Island flattered the Jag.”

The key figures