V6 S or V8 Why not one or t'other?

mikal83

New member
Why did you buy that V6 S and not the V8?? Why did you buy that V8 and not the V6 S?

I know...I know....questions money, mpg...but what was it that swayed you one way or the other.

The V8 at £30k or for maybe £2k less you get the V6 S......BUT if you did have the £2k burning a hole in your pocket,, would you go for the big V8!!!

Thats where I am right now. A nice 2014 V6 S is around the £25k mark and the V8....a cpla grand more....I DO have that money to spend BUT Am I really getting that much more car???

What say you!
 
Even tuned at over 400bhp you can still mash a V6 with more confidence than a V8.

And actually the question maybe should have been rwd or awd 😉

…the answer is rwd 😎
 
Good question. It's been discussed quite a few times. Ultimately it should depend on how you want your F-Type to be. One that feels and sounds like an Italian sports car or one that feels and sounds like a German muscle car? The main differences will be in character, exhaust noise variety, straight line grunt and handling, not MPG or other running costs.

For me it was never about money or mpg. The quintessential F-Type to me is how it's portrayed in Clarkson's legendary first review of the RWD V6S. I just never even considered a V8 because I personally don't think that a big V8 belongs in a car like the F-Type and was never interested in one. I absolutely love the sound of the AJ133 but only if it comes from the right kind of Jag like an XJ, XF or XK. If I wanted a V8 I'd get some Detroit muscle or an XKR.

If you like the idea of a V8 F-Type, go for it. And if you're considering any really early cars like a 2014 I'd read up on the issues you can expect and make sure you're fine with that.
 
I tried to place an order for a V6 but I was 2 days too late, Jaguar had stopped taking orders in preparation for the facelift, so I had 'to make do' with the V8. Not been disappointed for a single minute.
 
I've had both, so speaking from personal experience.

V6S for the drivers car due to the shorter gearing and slightly less weight, plus early cars had hydraulic steering. V6S sound was a love and hate relationship, sometimes sounded a bit too raspy for me, but other times rather exotic. V8 sounds and feels so special and and a sense of occasion the V6 can't match. Neither are sports cars, therefore the big torquey V8 suits the car much better. More people go V6 > V8 than the other way round.

If I'm honest, I couldn't afford the V8 when I bought my first F-Type. I still absolutely loved it though. You'd be more than happy with either car.

No difference in running costs as mentioned above.. Warranty is the most important thing, especially with an early car. They are not cheap to maintain\fix.
 
I drove the V8 when it was first launched as I felt it would be the only option that would tempt me away from my 911 turbo.

I enjoyed being a hooligan for an hour but concluded that it wasn't a car I could live with, especially as it didn't come close to having the nimbleness that I expect from a sports car, especially on UK B Roads.

Having fallen in love with the looks of the FType I knew I'd eventually get one but also knew it would be a V6. That time came last summer. I couldn't bare to part with my 911 so my budget capped me at a 2016 340bhp car. It's great fun alternating drives between the two and experiencing the different driving characteristics. One's super torquey, very fast but quiet. The other's revvy, noisy and quick enough for most occasions.

In your position I'd go for the V6S. You can always change at a later date if you like it but feel you need more power.
 
V8 for me, recently bought a MY13 cab and it is worth every penny for the noise, the grunt, the feel good factor....the power thing isn't the thing for my use case (have much more powerful cars) more for the noise and experience. I have a few other cars so this isn't a daily, simply a sunny weather weekend toy (amongst the others :lol: ), didn't even consider the V6.

Horses for courses and choose what you like best, I wouldn't use the V8 every day and as others have said it isn't a nimble sports car however when well driven it gets down the road just fine. When pootling around with a V8 burble and the hood down then life is good.
 
I couldn’t decide and in the end my affordable colourway and min spec became available first in a V6.

As a newbie already realised p-zero’s need to go so have a good read and buy either - you won’t be disappointed
 
I was new to F-Types when I got mine and read the V6S was the sweet spot between the V8 and V6. Plenty to get it moving and a wee bit lighter.

Wanted AWD as I understand it's usually rear biased but can help you out when you mess up (doesn't happen often, but when it does I'm glad I got it).

Had 15 years in BMW Z4s and enjoy roof down on my summer road trips through the Alps. But I couldn't do the F-Type convertible as the coupe is just so goddam gorgeous. The lack of luggage space in the convertible was secondary.

Having said all that, my heart's telling me I deserve an SVR convertible next 😂

It's all a matter of what you're looking for. Enough model variations to suit all us lucky buggers 👍🏻
 
I still don't get why JLR just blanked two cylinders on the V8 to make the V6.
If they wanted to create a lower powered version why not just make a NA V8.


Jon
 
JonGreen said:
I still don't get why JLR just blanked two cylinders on the V8 to make the V6.
If they wanted to create a lower powered version why not just make a NA V8.

I think it was about costs, emissions and getting a good package. The N/A AJ133 probably wouldn't have cut the mustard in the F-Type. About the same power as the S/C V6, but a less interesting power delivery and not enough character and drama for such an exciting car. I guess it was also considered as rather long in the tooth by then with relatively little power for the displacement. I can see how it worked as a GT cruising engine in the XK, XF and XJ but it wouldn't have fit the rest of the package in the F-Type.

It was quite a lot more work than just blanking off two cylinders. From a nerdy engineering point of view I guess the V6 is a bit of an odd design but regardless of how they went about creating it, at the end of a day they created a bit of a masterpiece which is just spot on for the F-Type and in my book is the quintessential F-Type engine.
 
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