Jaguar F-TYPE Rally

Most people when they think of Jaguar, go to the classic heritage vehicles such as the XK, or think to the XJ and its supersized comfort. Even the Jaguar F-TYPE, with its roaring, throaty noises and sleek sports coupe styling. But you don’t think dirt, mud, rallying rambunctiously with a desire to get downright dirty; that’s not your prim and proper Jaguar, as off-roading should be left to Land Rover. Yet Jaguar does have a rally history, although it’s been since 1953 that Jaguar won their last rally, the British BAC Rally, with the XK120.

Taking on that heritage, and beautifully open-top rally heritage, Jaguar have built two rally F-TYPEs with that look, sound, and drive of pure Jaguar sport translated to rally performance! Built to celebrate 70 years of Jaguar sports cars, the new F-TYPE Rally versions which are sadly not for sale, are custom fit for rally performance with redesigned bodies, altered interior, and 295 bhp 4-cylinder engine: Oh, and rear-wheel drive, simply because…it’s more fun. And oh are they fun, with their transformation from street sports cars to rally rugged making these vehicles feel at home in an environment that seems initially unnatural.

The exterior has been modified for rally safety and performance, with the very first adjustment made to the vehicle being the large roll-cage fitted to the top of the vehicle, large headlamps residing in a custom made hood for the vehicle, mud flaps, and a few other minor exterior changes. However, Jaguar has stated that by using their lighter, 4-cylinder model, most of the attachments to the vehicle were actually just bolted on, quick and easy. However, rallying can put some major stress on the suspension, braking, and dampening: This is why Jaguar installed hand-built competition dampeners that can be minutely tweaked for different surfaces, Eibach springs for the suspension that are better at soaking up huge bumps, four-piston AP Racing calipers to the front and rear that are connected to a hydraulic handbrake.

Inside it’s honestly not much different; your center console is still there, with infotainment system and joystick shifter, air-con controls, and even the exhaust valve controls (my personal favorite button). However, there’s a few extra controls added to ensure competitive driving and proper rallying such as the front lamps control, a very obvious handbrake for better driving control, and the door panels have been swapped for carbon fiber sheets and the windows completely removed. Cutting out weight is the name of the game for rally performance, and Jaguar looked to sheer it wherever they could.

Now, I could keep describing this vehicle for you and telling you just how much fun it has to be: But I think we’d all be better suited to you watching the video before, and checking out just how insane the performance is from the F-TYPE Rally.