Should F-Type Project 7 customers be upset with Jaguar?

WHEN Jaguar announced it was going to offer its outrageous F-Type Project 7 show car for sale as a very limited production model, customers who put their hands up for the 10 Australian examples must have felt pretty good about their investment.

For $339,610 before on road costs, the Jag aficionados would get an ultra exclusive version of the company’s flagship sportscar with a thumping 423kW/700Nm supercharged V8 that can smash the convertible through the 100km/h barrier from zero in just 3.9 seconds and on to a V-max of 300km/h.

Customers were asked to wait for the special consignment of cars but that wait is now over with ten of the total 250 global allocation arriving in Australia last month.

This is what more than $3 million worth of Jaguars looked liked when all ten Australian F-Type Project 7s arrived in April.

The special edition costs a hefty $95,000 over the cost of the next most expensive but unlimited F-Type R convertible but adds a fair amount of equipment into the bargain, such as modified suspension and carbon-ceramic brakes.

A new-look bodykit adds carbon-fibre to the front splitter, rear deck and side skirts for 177 per cent more downforce at maximum speed, and extends to an aerodynamic pod behind the driver’s bucket seat that nods to racing Jaguars of yesteryear.

For a racier look, Jaguars Special Vehicles Operations (SVO) engineers shortened the windscreen 114mm and went to town on the interior with carbon-fibre and synthetic suede everywhere.

Customers had a choice of pearlescent blue or metallic British Racing Green when they ordered their Project 7.

But wait. Isn’t this all sounding a little familiar?

In February, the British car maker confirmed that it would be selling a new version of the F-Type Coupe and Convertible named the SVR in unlimited numbers Down Under.

You don't get the showy aero pod, but the F-Type SVR does have some compelling features over the more exclusive Project 7.

Like the Project 7, the SVR has a 5.0-litre V8 with 423kW, but compared with the more exclusive version, the new addition has a relative bargain basement price of $308,470 when ordered as the equivalent convertible.

What will really get Project 7 customers fuming is when they look at the spec sheet, which shows the cheaper car has 700Nm of torque, a top speed of 322km/h and gets to 100km/h from standstill in just 3.7 seconds.

As if the Convertible doesn’t offer enough of a bargain when compared with the Project 7, the SVR Coupe is even more affordable but just a potent.

Where the Project 7 has to get its grunt to the ground through just the rear wheels, the SVR has extra traction in the form of all-paw drive via the eight-speed automatic transmission and the same sized wheels at 20 inches.

Fuel consumption is said to be the same as the F-Type R AWD – 11.3 litres per 100km on the EU test cycle, for both the coupe and convertible.

With a bigger boot, the SVR Coupe offers more practicality for those very fast weekends away.

To improve performance, the SVR development team trimmed 25kg from the overall weight compared with the F-Type R AWD, using items such as a titanium sports exhaust and lighter wheels to trim grams.

Unlike the 7, the SVR has to make do with iron disc brakes, but customers can upgrade to the composite material rotors and chunkier callipers for about $20,000, which takes the weight reduction to 50kg.

The design team opted for a wider front bumper not unlike the Project 7’s to improve aerodynamics around the front and sides of the vehicle at high speed and to reduce drag and lift.

Bargain value or not, all ten Australian Project 7 cars were snapped up fast.

New bonnet vents have louvres that are said to improve engine cooling, while apertures in the wheel-arch liners help to reduce front lift, as does a flat undertray.

The designers also reengineered the deployable rear wing that is said to cut drag by 2.5 per cent while decreasing lift by 15 per cent.

Inside, new-look seats get quilted black leather sports seats and a suede-cloaked steering wheel. The seats and steering wheel get a choice of contrasting stitching colours. Tan or red leather interiors are optional, and include full leather wrapping of the instrument panel.

With a mighty supercharged 5.0-litre V8, the F-Type SVR is Jaguars most powerful vehicle to date.

Yes, the F-Type Project 7 is still the more exclusive collectors car, but the F-Type SVR is faster, has more torque, saves you $31,140 and you can have a Coupe version as well for $289,590.

Would that get you reaching for Jaguar’s complaints line if you had just taken delivery of your Project 7?

Daniel Gardner GoAuto.com.au

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