V6 or V6S

[Reidy]

Hi all,

I am currently in the process of trying to decide which F-Type to purchase.

My budget is around the £30k mark, and from my searching this leaves me with the choice between:

1. V6S - 2014 to 2016
2. V6 - 2016 to 2018

The car would be my daily therefore I think the coupe is the only option, additionally I think I could get the 2L newer model in this price range, but my heart is definitely set on the 3L V6.

I understand that the main difference between the V6 and V6S is active dampening and LSD - is there anything I am missing?

I presume that the V6S is the more 'desirable' car, but I guess the question is more regarding reliability and how much difference is actually felt between the two. From reading these forums and other information available online it would appear that these cars are reliable units especially when considering their age.

Would appreciate any thoughts from the experts regarding the 2 models. Should I not worry about having a slightly older V6S, or should I be looking to get into a newer base V6.

Finally, it would appear that milage wise there aren't many cars out there breaking into 80-100k miles - is there any reason for this other than the majority of F-Types not being used as daily drivers? Should I be opting for a sub ~50k car as there are plenty of these on the market.

Thanks in advance

 

[Anonymous]

Majority of V engines F-Types are weekend fun cars, hence lots retain low mileages. Ten year old cars with less than 40k are the norm & not difficult to find examples with less than 20k miles are available on AT.

Personally, I wouldn’t daily any F-Type. If the only choice was an F-Type, I’d choose the 2 litre. For only reason of fuel economy & practicality. Saying that I regularly see a V6 near me in the morning rush.

I wasn’t interested in the S. I wanted a mint base V6 that I could modify. Saying that my base came with heated seats, power tailgate, active switchable sport exhaust. Depends on the spec ordered at new.

The V6S owners will tell you how good they are although they do have the LSD & AWD which may be better at this time of year.

Coupe must have pan roof

Be aware of the LED light issue on newer cars. Do a search on here for further info. Can be expensive out of a comprehensive warranty. Buyer beware.

Good luck with your search

 

[scm]

Finally, it would appear that milage wise there aren't many cars out there breaking into 80-100k miles - is there any reason for this other than the majority of F-Types not being used as daily drivers? Should I be opting for a sub ~50k car as there are plenty of these on the market.

In my experience Jaguar's engines are good for high mileages - I had an XK8 that I traded in at 69718 miles on it (it ran perfectly, too, but no supercharger!) and an XKR that I ran up to 98342 miles on before I upgraded to a newer XKR. I think Jaguar's reputation for poor reliability is largely propagated by people who have probably never even been in one, and have long memories back to the bad old BL days.

 

[OllyH]

If you are dailying the car I would get as new as possible. My 2018 car (admittedly the p300) was able to get the software update to apple car play / android auto which for me is vital due to the inability to get the maps updated or live traffic.

Other things worth considering are the seats, I find the face lift base seats uncomfortable in under an hour so am upgrading to performance seats

 

[Reidy]

Majority of V engines F-Types are weekend fun cars, hence lots retain low mileages. Ten year old cars with less than 40k are the norm & not difficult to find examples with less than 20k miles are available on AT.

Personally, I wouldn’t daily any F-Type. If the only choice was an F-Type, I’d choose the 2 litre. For only reason of fuel economy & practicality. Saying that I regularly see a V6 near me in the morning rush.

I wasn’t interested in the S. I wanted a mint base V6 that I could modify. Saying that my base came with heated seats, power tailgate, active switchable sport exhaust. Depends on the spec ordered at new.

The V6S owners will tell you how good they are although they do have the LSD & AWD which may be better at this time of year.

Coupe must have pan roof

The 2 litre does not interest me as much, partly due to the exhaust note but I am curious as to why you suggest that it would be more practical beyond fuel economy?

It would be my daily but I do work from home and typically do not do too much driving during the week. Mainly weekend trips and will hijack the GFs car when required!

This year I have only done around 7,000 miles on my current car.

I am also not too interested in modifying the car at all.

 

[Anonymous]

Majority of V engines F-Types are weekend fun cars, hence lots retain low mileages. Ten year old cars with less than 40k are the norm & not difficult to find examples with less than 20k miles are available on AT.

Personally, I wouldn’t daily any F-Type. If the only choice was an F-Type, I’d choose the 2 litre. For only reason of fuel economy & practicality. Saying that I regularly see a V6 near me in the morning rush.

I wasn’t interested in the S. I wanted a mint base V6 that I could modify. Saying that my base came with heated seats, power tailgate, active switchable sport exhaust. Depends on the spec ordered at new.

The V6S owners will tell you how good they are although they do have the LSD & AWD which may be better at this time of year.

Coupe must have pan roof

The 2 litre does not interest me as much, partly due to the exhaust note but I am curious as to why you suggest that it would be more practical beyond fuel economy?

It would be my daily but I do work from home and typically do not do too much driving during the week. Mainly weekend trips and will hijack the GFs car when required!

This year I have only done around 7,000 miles on my current car.

I am also not too interested in modifying the car at all.

Only my opinion but always considered F-Types as highly strung sports cars, especially the V engines. The 2 litre would serve better everyday, around town driving.

Some of known issues, Y pipe, bonnet vent water ingress, sticking windows/doors in frosts, would be more susceptible if used everyday.

Saying that it sounds like your short commute, working from home, & access to another car would be ideal.

 

[Andyp123]

I have a V6 p380 I daily mine on a 45 mile to and from work 90 miles I’m getting 34mpg I came from an M2 bmw same journey and I could only get 23mpg max!

The way I look at life if I’ve got a lovely car of my dreams I’m going to enjoy it why I can before we are all driving milk floats!!!!

Buy one, and enjoy it go drive it and just don’t look at it!!!

 

[cj10jeeper]

Since you already say your heart is set on a V6 then I'd waste no more time on thinking about the 2l 4 cyl. From the day you pick it up you'll always wish you had the V6,

Out of the 2 V6 variants I'd always take the 'S'. In addition to the LSD it has another 40hp and of course as you allude too it's more desirable. You'll also find the S is generally more specced out than the 'base' V6 and as such costs more now and will hold value better. That said if you see the right car with colour and spec you want then go with it.

The cars perfectly OK as a daily, but parking, bonnet length, visibility etc. will give you more concerns than which engine it has.
They are very reliable, low stressed engines, so nothing really to worry about there and what you see on forums are always the exceptions. Just make sure you have a good service history with major items done, as a lot of low mileage owners appear to skip oil and other service elements. You can punch the car VIN into the Jaguar OSH site to see the servicing.

My V6S is now 11 years old and 60k with no issues aside a seller paid claim for a new back box after purchase

Hope this helps and enjoy the search

 

[TH51]

My budget was a bit less than yours at c£25k so my hand was forced a little towards the 340 bhp car.

If you go the same route you won't be disappointed as the performance is more than adequate for UK roads. I very much doubt that those with the extra 40 bhp ever get to use it. My other 'fun car' has 473 bhp but I never feel short changed when I choose to go out for a spirited drive in the FType.

I'd concentrate on age, lowest mileage, best history, colour combo and spec' before worrying about whether it has the 'S' badge.

Happy Hunting

 

[MArtyn Veg]

A V6 MY18 was my previous and first F Type. A dream come true, a fantastic car which they all are and I was over the moon with it! All I would say though, now I know a little more about these incredible cars and the vast variation of them I did feel slightly undersold mainly specification wise vs the earlier V6S. As the guys on here have already said get out there and test drive as many examples as you can. Enjoy the ride!

 

[scm]

If you go the same route you won't be disappointed as the performance is more than adequate for UK roads.

Come om! More than adequate is never enough! :lol:

 

[KM69MZX]

I very much doubt that those with the extra 40 bhp ever get to use it.

Ahem. I treasure every one of those extra 40 horses

 

[Andyp123]

I also love my extra 40 bhp

 

[cj10jeeper]

^ +1 on the extra hp (and the LSD to help put it down)

 

[OllyH]

You can get the 340 remapped easily to 400 if ever you feel the need. I would definitely focus on the seats over the bhp difference, as I mentioned the base seats are awful, I’ve had numerous jags and these are the worst by quite a margin

 

[MajorTom]

Let's not forget that the S also has the adaptive dampers, so the main differences are the 40 horses, LSD and adaptive dampers. As mentioned, the missing power can easily be added to a base car but not so much the LSD and adaptive dampers.

A more in depth comparison of the two:

[media]https://youtu.be/-Jk2XUg-DhE?si=QZPTzeHsEQiYORxL[/media]

 

[NaCl]

I was in the same position as you when searching for an F-Type and ultimately I decided to get a V6S due to the extra hp, adaptive dampers and LSD over the base V6. Having the extra power and goodies also meant that I could keep the car stock & retain my warranty without needing to worry about any issues that may happen down the line. The LSD also came in handy when I took my F-Type to the skid pan a few weeks ago and it did a really good job of allowing me to feel the loss of traction in a smooth & progressive way which was great for learning to slide for the first time ever.

I also noticed that the price difference wasn't too drastic between a high-specced base V6 and the S.

One thing I'm curious about is whether the suspension comfort in the base V6 would be better than the S as the passive system might be better suited to UK roads? Personally, when driving in comfort mode at low speeds, the ride can be quite harsh at times.

 

[MajorTom]

Good point about the suspension. I was going to mention that too - if you're mainly going to enjoy the car on UK roads maybe you wouldn't want the adaptive dampers anyways. I've never driven an F-Type with passive dampers on shitty roads but know that the adaptive ones in dynamic mode can be a bit over the top on UK roads. Down in my neck of the woods the roads are so smooth that I don't notice a difference between the suspension's comfort and dynamic modes, but I did when I did a couple of days of B road blasts in Kent and the Cotswolds.

Apart from that, in my book an RWD V6S or RWD 400 is THE quintessential and best F-Type configuration out there, so the S feels like an obvious choice if you want an F-Type that's as complete as possible. Having said that though, the real world difference between a base and S car doesn't seem to be night and day and if the looks and interior spec of the car are important to you that might be a more important matter than whether it has that extra edge with the additional power, dampers and LSD. I could for instance never live with an F-Type with a black interior and no pano roof so I would probably choose a well specced base car with a tan or dove/cirrus interior and pano roof over a loaded S with a bog standard black interior and no pano roof.