I had my first drive in an F-Type yesterday morning in the sunshine.<br /><br />I got to drive a V6 S for about an hour and it is a very nice car indeed. It's not too much of a change in driving experience compared to XKs, it still feels very much a Jaguar and in normal mode the suspension firms up around the bends but it is surprisingly compliant over bumps and potholes. I was worried it might be too firm, but it rides very well (and the demo V6 S was on 20" wheels).<br /><br />Engaging the active exhaust does make you smile, but when just cruising you would turn it off. I'm not sure it's worth the extra outlay on a standard F, the exhaust is loud enough when on full throttle with the system off. But where it is fitted to S models, you will enjoy turning it on occasionally when you find a stretch of open road.<br /><br />Visibility forwards and backwards is very good; the rear view mirror is so close to the rear windscreen that it has a very broad view of the road behind. Forget about a rear glance over your shoulder however due to the hood.<br /><br />The boot appears tiny. This was a concern since I love the thought of taking this car on a European road trip, so I took along a small suitcase (the type you can take as maximum hand luggage on a plane, hard case with wheels and handle) and it will actually accommodate two of these! The recess under the hood is deep enough that it will fit briefcases and reasonably thick laptop bags too.<br /><br />So, for me at least, my practicality reservations have been put to rest!<br /><br />My only problem now is whether I can really justify spending all that money on a car in the first place, lovely though the F-Type is. I loved the C-X16 concept and fell in love with the sight and sound of the prototype climbing the hill at Goodwood, but the F has launched with that car being the S, not the standard model and (when spec'd up) costing the best part of £20k more than was first suggested when I put a deposit down a year ago...