Jaguar considers four-cylinder F-Type

Plans are afoot for a Jaguar F-Type with just four cylinders, using a high-output, forced-induction variant of the company’s new 2.0-litre Ingenium engine architecture.

Speaking exclusively to Wheels in New York this week, Jaguar Land Rover product creation director Bob Joyce revealed that a four-pot F-Type, possibly using twin-charge technology, is under consideration.

“Look, it’s very possible,” he said. “We’ll have high-output versions of both the petrol and the diesel four-cylinder engines and I think it’d make sense in the F-Type. These engines are highly boosted and more efficient, with good levels of performance, so why not?”

Production of the new four-cylinder diesel is already underway in Wolverhampton in the UK, with work to begin on the petrol version next year.

“And yes, it could be twin-charged,” Joyce told us. “We’ll do as many variants of these engines as we can, using both turbo and supercharger technology.

“I drove a car not dissimilar to the F-Type with one of the new engines recently and it was fantastic.

“These engines are much lighter, too, which is a positive.

“We’ll look at anything to improve performance and we’re obviously keen to continue the F-Type’s success.”

Interestingly, Joyce also referenced Porsche’s recent confirmation that it will use four-cylinder engines in the next-generation Cayman/Boxster.

While Porsche expects to screw as much as 300kW from its four-pot, Joyce remained tight-lipped as to how much grunt a four-cylinder F-Type would produce.

He did, however, shed some more light on Jaguar’s plan to build a lightweight ‘clubsport’ version of the F-Type.

“I have to be careful what I say here, but yes, there is potential for the F-Type to lose some weight,” he said.

“Obviously losing weight has big benefits when it comes to performance and efficiency, so it’s something we’re looking at.”

Have a listen to this video footage of an F-Type in testing at the Nürburgring. Is that a four-cylinder under there?