Jaguar F-Type goes all-wheel drive

Jaguar has announced the F-Type range will grow from six variants to 14 with the full range to debut at the LA Auto Show on November 19.

Key to this expansion will be the adoption of all-wheel drive across the entire range, though that would merely double the current range, indicating a further two new variants will also appear.

Technical details of the all-wheel drive system are yet to be revealed, though Jaguar has confirmed the 405kW/680Nm F-Type R Coupe AWD is expected to hit 60mph (97km/h) in 3.9sec and top out at 300km/h.

Given we managed 3.99sec 0-100km/h in the rear-drive R Coupe at Performance Car of the Year recently, we suspect Jaguar’s claims are rather conservative.

With the rear-drive car severely limited by traction off the line, even with the extra weight of the all-wheel drive system we’d expect it to nail 0-100km/h in around 3.5sec.

Jaguar’s Vehicle Line Director, Ian Hoban, said “Our target with engineering the all-wheel drive F-Type was to maintain the engaging rear-drive character that’s so important to Jaguar sports cars.”

If Hoban is true to his word, let’s hope the F-Type AWD offers all-wheel drive traction and stability with the playfulness of a rear-driver like cars such as Audi’s R8 or Porsche’s 911 Carrera 4.

We’ll bring you more details following the car’s reveal on November 19.