2016 Jaguar F-type to get manual, AWD option

• Jaguar has finally confirmed details of the new 14-model line up of the 2016 F-type, which will now include the option of a manual transmission and an all-wheel-drive model for the first time.

• With this, the F-type will become the first Jaguar sports car since the E-type to get a manual gearbox. The new six-speed gearbox is called the Quickshift, and will be available only in conjunction with the F-type's supercharged V6 engine. The “short-travel” gearlever is said to have a throw of just 45mm and “closely spaced ratios”.
• Jaguar says, the gearbox was developed in association with ZF, and uses an aluminium casing and “innovative semi-dry sump lubrication system”. It has a rod linkage between the lever and selector forks for “the most direct connection”.
• The F-type’s centre console has also been reshaped to allow for maximum free movement of the driver’s arm.
• Jaguar says that rather than “the usual splash lubrication”, the new gearbox gets a compact mechanical pump that is driven off the layshaft and sprays oil on to the gear teeth, bearings and synchroniser rings. This has reduced oil capacity to just 1.2 litres, which, in turn, has allowed a small ’box casing.
• The new manual ’box will be offered with the V6 in both 335bhp and 375bhp forms.
• Jaguar has also confirmed an all-wheel-drive variant of the F-type sports car to market for the first time. In top-end R coupé form, the AWD F-type is capable of reaching 97kph in 3.9sec – an improvement of 0.2sec on the standard rear-wheel-drive car – while keeping the same 299kph top speed.
• The expanded F-type range will include the current standard, S and R-badged models in both coupé and convertible forms. The updates see the convertible get a V8 R version for the first time. It gets the same 3.9sec 0-97ph time as the coupé, despite the increased weight of the folding roof.
• The 2016 F-type will also switch to electrically assisted power steering from hydraulic assistance, a first for a Jaguar. The company says the new system is the first that, its engineers feel, outperforms its existing steering systems. It is also responsible for a CO2 reduction of 4g/km.
• The F-type will also get a torque vectoring system as standard. It will improve the car's agility by reducing the power to a wheel in case of a loss of traction.
• A new version, powered by a high-performance four-cylinder petrol engine from Jaguar Land Rover's new Ingenium range, is also likely.
• Jaguar officials had previously been coy about the prospect of introducing an AWD version of the F-type, but such versions of the existing XF and XJ models have been a sales success in the US market.
• Jaguar vehicle line director Ian Hoban said: "Our target with engineering the all-wheel-drive F-type was to maintain the engaging rear-drive character that’s so important to Jaguar sports cars, yet offer even greater dynamic capability.
• "The result is a controllable, exploitable and blisteringly fast performance car in all weather and road conditions."
• Prices for the manual F-type start at £51,250 (approximately Rs 49.71 lakh) for the standard V6-powered car in coupé form, while AWD options stars at £66,900 (approximately Rs 64.89 lakh) for the V6 S coupé.