The fiery-mouthedF-type transforms from stylish sportscar to fun track-day tool.

Design, like art, may be a naturally divisive subject, but it would be hard for anyone to argue against theJaguar F-Type being one of the most gorgeous cars on the planet. Its smooth, curvy lines meet up with piercing taillights and a side profile that’s so perfectly proportioned it will make you want to pull down those family photos in your living room and replace them with a big motivational F-Type poster. Stand behind this new F-Type SVR with its rear wing erect and tell me you don’t see devil horns protruding from the edges. The taillights even look like evil, demonic eyes. This car is bad… but the good kind of bad, and that's before you get behind the wheel.

Devil horns on demon eyes. Jaguar living up to its slogan,"it's good to be bad"

The SVR I'm stepping into is the only one in the country, used as a marketing tool to promote the SVR badge as an AMG, M and RS competitor. The engineers haven’t gone overboard with the power increase, it’s a meagre 18 kW and 20 Nm. The weight saving on this car is around 50 kg due to the carbon ceramic brakes, carbon fibre roof and carbon interior trim. The hard work has gone into the aerodynamics and suspension. Jaguar claims the SVR creates zero lift but in V-Max mode (the rear wing folds down) it will top 200 mph (320 kph). Contrary to everything manufacturers usually say about performance suspension, Jaguar has made the front end slightly softer but the rear firmer. They say this promotes better turn in. Finally, just in case you couldn’t hear the exhaust system on the standard F-type V8, Jag has made sure the flaps inside the exhaust open up at a lower RPM and let rip with even louder ferocity.

Exhaust is made from Titanium and Inconel (space ship superalloy) and saves 16 kg over the standard exhaust

Seated behind the steering wheel, a notable change is that leather has been replaced with sporty Alcantara but it’s business as usual as far as design goes. The infotainment screen has some added features to track your lap times, check how many Gs you’ve pulled in the corners and your throttle and brake applications can be monitored, too.

We had a chance to spend some laps at Kyalami with an instructor beside us. Right from the first go, the louder exhaust gets your adrenal levels rocketing. Instantly, you’re more attuned to the finite changes on the SVR. The gearbox is quicker, in both up, and down shifts. The steering feels heavier but faster. The AWD F-Type’s steering can feel light and vague on track but this SVR is communicative with perfect heft. The small power increase is noticeable in the mid-range out of corners, it does everything just that little bit faster. The suspension delivers the biggest surprise, under braking the SVR feels alive, even a little bit loose, like it could break away at any second and send you farming. It won’t though, it’s all part of the engineers plan to get the SVR into a prime position to arrow into the apex quicker. It’s impressive to watch it work but, don’t waste too much time in awe as you can floor the throttle earlier with the increased aero pushing the SVR into the tarmac like it’s being stood on by the Hulk’s giant foot.

SVR makes good use of additional aero features in order to improve corner speed.

The Pirelli P Zero tyres just hold on and are prone to overheating quickly under this sort of continuous pressure. An upgrade to the P Zero Corsa tyres may be just what the SVR needs if it wants to be more than a one lap specialist.

Our time in the SVR is over all too soon but it leaves a lasting impression. For what is essentially an add-on pack for an F-type AWD, it feels like so much more than that. The bark is louder but so is the bite. It’s a proper sportscar with racing pedigree. I’d love to see it up against an Audi R8 V10 or the McLaren 570S to evaluate just how good it is as an all-round powerhouse. You can pick up an F-Type SVR for R2 134 100 which, puts it a fair chunk below the price of an R8 and McLaren 570S.

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