First Drive: 2022 Jaguar F-Type P450

The 2022 Jaguar F-Type gets some significant updates for 2022 in a field swimming with newer competitors, including the mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette, Porsche 718 Boxster and 718 Cayman.

But Jaguar hasn’t been asleep at the switch. The company’s updates over the past couple years have kept the cat competitive. Given that Jaguar is promising the lineup will be electrified by 2025, the updates hardly seem warranted, as the company could easily let the F-Type ride out its final years without significant updates.

Nevertheless, the car’s recent revisions help maintain its competitiveness, despite its transformation later this decade. This makes the current models the last of the breed, not to mention a thrill to drive.

Overview

Given the intensifying competition and the ever-increasing amount of available horsepower offered in the sports car horsepower wars, Jaguar dropped the turbocharged four-cylinder and supercharged six-cylinder engines.

Now, the F-Type is solely V-8 powered, retaining its supercharged 5.0-liter V8 in P450 and P450 R-Dynamic trim. It comes draped in either coupe or convertible bodywork. For 2022, the F-Type receives a more lavish cabin, larger brakes and standard 20-inch wheels.

Exterior

The F-Type received a freshening for 2021 with noticeably slimmer LED headlights, a revised clamshell hood and bumpers, that lend it a slightly more menacing, yet still refined, appearance.

But the F-Type’s taut, sleek appearance remains mostly untouched. Its sophisticated clean design remains a refreshing counterpoint to the overwrought, overdesigned chaos that passes for modern sports car design. Instead of throwing everything at its design, Jaguar respects its heritage with uncluttered shape that speaks with a dignified authority, allowing the flowing lines to speak.

There’s no need for childish excess; its visual haiku that speaks volumes. Even stepping up to the P450 R-Dynamic keeps the added dross to a minimum with a gloss black front splitter, side sills, valance, and venturi; auto-dimming power-folding, heated side mirrors; and special 20-inch wheels.

Interior

This is where Jaguar has done some serious heavy lifting for 2022. It starts as you climb into the car, with the embossed leaping jaguars embossed in the headrests. As you settle in, it’s hard not to be impressed by the contrast stitching on the seats and doors.

Jaguar designers have revised interior finishes accented with what it calls its heritage lozenge pattern, its name for the elongated hexagon shape that was used on its logo in the 1950s. The company would like you to come to associate it with Jaguar the way that one recognizes Louis Vuitton’s iconic checkered pattern.

Throughout the cabin, finishes are dramatically improved with supple leather, satin-finish chrome and more, projecting a far more appropriate given this car’s price point, a problem with Jaguar interiors for the best part of a decade. 

Otherwise, the cabin is unchanged. It’s still fairly cozy with minimal storage in the finest sports car tradition. Need more space? Buy a minivan; stretchy sweat pants not included. 

Powertrain

The F-Type becomes a true sports car for 2022, dropping the turbocharged four-cylinder supercharged 6-cylinder engines. In its place is the F-Type P450 powered by a supercharged 5.0-liter V-8 that produces 444 horsepower and 428 pound-feet of torque at 2,500 rpm.

Offered in rear wheel or all-wheel drive, reaching 60 mph takes 4.4 seconds, with a top speed of 177 mph. Not bad, but not as quick as the F-Type P450 R-Dynamic, with 575 horsepower, all-wheel drive and a 0-60 mph time of 3.5 seconds.

Thoughtfully, the F-Type comes with Quiet Start, which won’t wake the neighbors when you arrive home late at night. It can be shut off by selecting the Dynamic driving mode or by pressing the exhaust button on the center console.

Safety and Technology

When it comes to driver-assistance tech, automatic emergency braking, lane centering, adaptive cruise control, and traffic-sign recognition are standard. Blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert are optional.

Neither NHTSA nor IIHS has not crash-tested the 2022 Jaguar F-Type. 

The instrument panel features a large, usefully reconfigurable 12.3-inch color digital instrument cluster, and a smaller 10-inch touchscreen that’s not as good as the Pivi Pro system used in other Jaguar Land Rover products, but proves sufficient nonetheless. 

Driving Impressions

These are cars you strap on and drive. That’s their intent. The car gets up and go, with impressive grip, quick steering and impressive brakes you’d expect. There’s a lack of body lean and fairly good bump isolation for a sports car.

This is a car with a large, loud V-8 up front, a far different animal from the silky-smooth inline sixes and V-12s once found in Jaguar sports cars. So despite the car’s definitive heritage cues, it will never deliver an experience that calls to mind an E-Type, despite being one letter removed in the alphabet.

It remains its own cat, albeit a growling beast with a fairly firm ride that seems less harsh than previous iterations without sacrificing handling. But it’s not a grand touring car like the XJS, XK8 or even the V-12 E-Type.

Wrap Up

If longtime Jaguar aficionados have anything to look forward to with electrification, it’s the return of some semblance of effortless, quiet performance that once defined Jaguar coupes and convertibles. The F-Type has always been a bit too Germanic in its performance, having sacrificed comfort for performance. Its upgraded interior and V-8-only power clarifies the F-Type’s particular personality among Jaguars, while its upgraded interior restores more of what buyers come to expect from the marque.

2022 Jaguar F-Type P450 ­— Frequently Asked Questions