2015 V8R Convertible Vs. 2016 V8 SVR Coupe driven.

[Tel]

After driving several hours to our dealer yesterday (Tuesday
18^th), we arranged to test drive a gleaming, Glacier white V8 SVR
with a view to possibly part exchanging our car.<p ="Msonormal"><o></o></p>

<p ="Msonormal">So what, if any were the differences between this and our
2015 V8R?<o></o></p>

<p ="Msonormal"><o> </o></p>

<p ="Msonormal"><b>Firstly, the outside.</b>
<o></o></p>

<p ="Msonormal">This particular car was fitted with the CF bonnet vents,
which are now louvered and look very sexy through the windscreen, CF mirror
caps and blind spot monitoring and heated windscreen, over and above our V8R.
The look of the coupe is more appealing than the convertible, as you get much
more accentuation of the rear haunches which really balances the look. Moving
to the front, the main differences are the air intakes on the right and left hand
flanks. Looking straight on, you can almost see a Nissan GTR! The side vents on
the forward rocker panels vent air that is now allowed to flow through the
inner wheel arch cover at the rear of the front wheels. Around the rear, the CF
active spoiler stands proud, which makes the car look at bit boy racer €˜ish.
The new 20'' wheel designs were nice in gloss black and the Pirelli's are a
slightly different wall design/pattern to the ones fitted on our car.<o></o></p>

<p ="Msonormal"><o> </o></p>

<p ="Msonormal"><b>On the inside. <o></o></b></p>

<p ="Msonormal">The SVR has Alcantara over the centre vent, down the inside
of the passenger grab handle and on top of the rev counter and speedo binnacle,
which really looks the part. The diamond quilt stitched seats are a lot more
comfortable than the standard F-Type sports seats, that have the ridiculous
seam that runs down the middle of them! The rev counter and speedo surrounds
are in Piano Black that looks menacing. The steering wheel now has sculpted thumb
grips at a quarter past nine positions and in this part of the wheel is
narrower in diameter that suited my hands better than the normal round wheel
that we have. The diamond stitching on the door panels looks a bit fussy in
white.<o></o></p>

<p ="Msonormal">The newer, larger infotainment centre was only a slight
update to the older system; still slow unfortunately and the SD card based
SatNav still weird and the nav display looks a little infantile! One useful
function was the speed limit was displayed€¦.in case you forgot! No CD slot of
course, and no more functionality from the 2015 system.<o></o></p>

<p ="Msonormal"><o> </o></p>

<p ="Msonormal"><b>The fun bit €“
Driving.<o></o></b></p>

<p ="Msonormal">Straight into Dynamic mode! (Vmax shown on the cluster?). We
drove a multitude of twisty €˜minor' county roads and around 10 miles on the
motorway. Only noticeable differences were; the extra weight up front from the
AWD system that seems to make it feel nose heavy over the RWD. The steering
feels sharper, which I guess is a result of the revised mapping, as does the
throttle response. The throttle/accelerator also feels a little smoother or
more linear on its affect on acceleration. The brake pedal felt a little more
linear/smoother as well. This car was fitted with the standard steel discs. <o></o></p>

<p ="Msonormal">Other than that there were no noticeable power or
acceleration/handling differences noted.<o></o></p>

<p ="Msonormal">The new exhaust (only from centre back) definitely gives a
lower more bass note, but is no louder and possibly a little less harsh
compared to our V8R. The cabin was noisy, well about the same as the convertible
at around mid 80dB, maxing out at 92.<o></o></p>

<p ="Msonormal"><o> </o></p>

<p ="Msonormal">This is obviously our take on the car, based on both
(husband and wife team) having previous track experience with the V6, V6S, V8S
and V8R models€¦we are no racing drivers, but enthusiastic twisty revellers!<o></o></p>

<p ="Msonormal">So, €˜you pays your money and take your choice'. <o></o></p>

<p ="Msonormal">For us, it was a no brainer over the 2015 V8R; there is
little difference for quite a price premium. That said, if you are moving up
from a V6 model, then it will seem like a quantum leap.<o></o></p>

 

[Megatron]

Thanks for taking the time to post that; I've often wondered what the extra money gets you - and from your review it seems that the answer is not enough to shift me out of my R. Personally I'm not a huge fan of the external cosmetic changes - the "standard" F-type is such a beautiful design that it's hard to make it look any better than it already does.

 

[V8FTW]

I've not driven one<div><br></div><div>but this has been my reaction since the SVR surfaced.</div><div><br></div><div>It's simply not sufficiently either "better" nor "different" from a F-TYPE R</div><div><br></div><div>and the price at £110k + options is frankly ridiculous</div><div><br></div><div>let alone the fact the F-TYPE is about to be facelift - so dump £110k on something for it to instantly be out of date !</div><div><br></div><div>The bargain F-TYPE is a £5X F-TYPE R</div>

 

[dezzy]

I just didn't quite "get" the SVR when they launched it, and still don't. The beauty of our cars, base 340,S or R, is the split personality. They are GT cars but can turn into monsters with the flick of a button and the right foot fully engaged... <br /><br />However, the SVR really isn't different enough from the R. If they'd made it a raw track focused bare bones car with phenomenal performance I'd get it. But it's not. For the money, you can get cars that will totally out perform it and if you want the GT split personality thing mentioned above, you can get it all with a standard R without the extra expense and only slightly lower performance. <br /><br />I personally don't like the fixed wing on any F-type although the other exterior styling features do look good. But not good enough to justify the price tag when the performance difference is minimal. <br /><br />Just my 2p! <br /><br />D<br />

 

[Tel]

I agree, we came away feeling a bit disappointed...We were hoping for something special as the wife won't let me buy a Project 7 I've had my eye on for months!<div><br></div><div>I'm not quite sure where Jaguar thought they were going, by adding a spoiler, 25Hp and a few s/ware, cosmetic and suspension tweaks. The spoiler in my opinion does just that; It spoils the look of a beautiful car. The front looks too Japanese, Nissan like.</div><div><br></div><div>Another, maybe limited run lighter weight version (follow the Porsche business model) similar to the GT 911's might have been a winner?</div><div><br></div><div>I guess this is mimicking the way the E-Type went...S1's looking absolutely stunning, with the the last generation that lost the appeal.</div>

 

[V8FTW]

they could have sold 1,000 P7's if they were a bit braver<div><br></div><div>those cars are special. unique body, unique seats, fully loaded (Ceramics, forged wheels etc) as standard ... were a bargain really at £135k given only 250 in the whole wide world</div><div><br></div><div>They should have gone V8 RWD, Carbon Seats, all carbon fibre options, ceramics, forged wheels, titanium exhaust ... could have got the car down to 1,500 KG instead of the porky SVR</div><div><br></div><div>Would be nice to see if they could do a driver focussed V6 variant to rival the GT4</div>

 

[dezzy]

After my post above I was in at our dealer to pick something up this morning and bumped into the business manager who asked if I'd like a shot of the SVR... Despite my comments above I was hardly going to say no! Especially as I've never even driven the R. <br /><br />Absolutely loved the drive and the noise is quite different from our V6. Strangely not as deep a sound but it pops and bangs way more. <br /><br />Performance was great and did enjoy it but still stick with what I said above that it's not worth the money and I think they've missed an opportunity by not making it different and special enough. <br /><br />Was very kind of him to give me a shot though! My wife is going to be so annoyed she had to work this morning and missed that chance but he said she can pop in for a shot some other time <img src="http://www.ftypeforums.co.uk/images/converted_files/smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0" align="middle" /> <br /><br />D<br />

 

[Jags since 66]

Hmmm.... How much would it cost to upgrade from non-quilted to quilted seats? Probably an obscene amount but in my view that is the only worthwhile improvement over my R AWD

 

[V8FTW]

Just get yours retrimmed

 

[Megatron]

<blockquote>Hmmm.... How much would it cost to upgrade from non-quilted to quilted seats? Probably an obscene amount but in my view that is the only worthwhile improvement over my R AWD</blockquote>
<div><br></div><div>Totally agree with this; the interior is the only thing I think is an upgrade. Hopefully this isn't the point after which Jaguar jumped the shark with the F-type</div>

 

[V8FTW]

or buy some from a XK Dynamic R

 

[Snapper]

Interesting thread. I had an "expression of interest" in with my dealer since October last year....and was waiting for them to call...and I will go and drive one and compare it to my R Coupe.<br /><br />That said my thinking is to get a modest remap, titanium exhaust, supercharger pulley and drop the suspension by an inch all round. I figure that will cost about £5k and give me a car just as fast if not faster than the SVR and I can buy something else with the rest of the £75k it will cost me to trade up! Actually the clincher for me is I don't want AWD. I love to feel the back moving around under power!

 

[MOz]

Still wondering what Vmax is??<br /><br />V = velocity. Max is obvious. Suggesting that mode allows maximum speed ;-)<br /><br />Or have I just pointed out the obvious?

 

[Tel]

<blockquote><br><div><br></div><div>They should have gone V8 RWD, Carbon Seats, all carbon fibre options, ceramics, forged wheels, titanium exhaust ... could have got the car down to 1,500 KG instead of the porky SVR</div><div><br></div><div>Would be nice to see if they could do a driver focussed V6 variant to rival the GT4</div></blockquote>
<div><br></div><div>A proper Porker contender; Now that would be a great car!</div>

 

[steveh]

<blockquote> Hmmm.... How much would it cost to upgrade from non-quilted to quilted seats? Probably an obscene amount but in my view that is the only worthwhile improvement over my R AWD</blockquote> <br /><br />Must admit I am not a fan of quilted seats.<br /><br />Steve.

 

[timbo69]

<blockquote>Interesting thread. I had an "expression of interest" in with my dealer since October last year....and was waiting for them to call...and I will go and drive one and compare it to my R Coupe.<br><br>That said my thinking is to get a modest remap, titanium exhaust, supercharger pulley and drop the suspension by an inch all round. I figure that will cost about £5k and give me a car just as fast if not faster than the SVR and I can buy something else with the rest of the £75k it will cost me to trade up! Actually the clincher for me is I don't want AWD. I love to feel the back moving around under power!</blockquote><br><br>Exactlly what i've done, smaller pulley, 200 cell cats, remap, now making around 620bhp<img src="http://www.ftypeforums.co.uk/images/converted_files/smileys/smiley17.gif" border="0" alt="Tongue" title="Tongue" /><br>Stupidly quick but do struggle for traction below 60mph, oh and lowered on H&R springs.<br>

 

[The Jagster]

I have been toying with the idea of customising my car since day one of ownership. For me, that is a big part of the enjoyment and interest of vehicle ownership.<br>I could have spec'd up an F-Type from new to something closer to what I would ideally like to have, rather than going for a used one that ticked most of my boxes, but the maths just wasn't working for me.<br>It made more sense to me to start at a level where I could add (or take away) what I wanted for a lower cost in total than shelling out on a new one.<br>If depreciation wasn't so poor with these kinds of cars, I might have thought differently, but as things are, it makes more sense to me to start at a lower price point so there is less money to lose.<br>As long as the car still looks and feels like a new car, then why blow all the hard earned money away, says the Yorkshireman that I am.<br><br>Sooo.....I'm thinking about re-trimming the interior and using some quality leather. I'm thinking dark red leather (that actually smells of leather)....I'm thinking of re-shaping the standard seats slightly just to get the lumbar and side support just that bit better without going for the rather large looking 'performance seats'....I like the diamond quilt stitching design on the P7 and the SVR....definitely some detailing that I would like to bring into my custom project.<br><br>Not sure yet about engine upgrades.....Think I need to both learn more about the possibilities and try to experience them first hand before I take the plunge there......oh yes, and then there is the tricky area of insurance premiums....<br><br>What I would like to see is a company that can offer a replacement to our touch screen unit that offers a plug and play solution with a better Satnav etc.... <br>

 

[Snapper]

<blockquote> <blockquote>Interesting thread. I had an "expression of interest" in with my dealer since October last year....and was waiting for them to call...and I will go and drive one and compare it to my R Coupe.<br /><br />That said my thinking is to get a modest remap, titanium exhaust, supercharger pulley and drop the suspension by an inch all round. I figure that will cost about £5k and give me a car just as fast if not faster than the SVR and I can buy something else with the rest of the £75k it will cost me to trade up! Actually the clincher for me is I don't want AWD. I love to feel the back moving around under power!</blockquote><br /><br />Exactlly what i've done, smaller pulley, 200 cell cats, remap, now making around 620bhp<img src="http://www.ftypeforums.co.uk/images/converted_files/smileys/smiley17.gif" border="0" alt="Tongue" title="Tongue" /><br />Stupidly quick but do struggle for traction below 60mph, oh and lowered on H&R springs.<br /></blockquote> <br /><br />Top man! Where did you get the work done? What tyres are you running?