Jaguar F-Type R-S under development

Jaguar has only just taken the wraps of its stunning new Jaguar F-Type Coupe and its thoughts are already turning to an even hotter version called the Jaguar F-Type R-S.

• Jaguar F-Type review

The Jaguar F-Type R Coupe was unveiled to celebrities including Simon Cowell and Miranda Kerr at a lavish pre-LA Motor Show bash, with performance figures of 0-60mph in 4.0 seconds and a top speed of 186mph. Yet Jaguar’s design director Ian Callum told Auto Express that he’d like to see an even faster R-S version, which would be developed by Jaguar Land Rover’s specialist ETO ‘Engineered To Order’ division.

Callum, who has an F-Type R on order in Italian Red, told us that he’d like one in French Blue, “But French Blue is reserved for R-S versions of our cars. I’d like to see an F-Type in French Blue.”

A Jaguar insider revealed that work is already under way on the hottest new F-Type, with an uprated version of the supercharged V8 engine from the F-Type R, with power up from the 542bhp to closer to 600bhp, plus stiffer suspension, revamped steering and aerodynamic tweaks. With that sort of power performance will be stunning – we’d expect a 0-62mph time of around 3.5seconds and a top speed of around 200mph putting an F-Type R-S on a par with the Porsche 911 Turbo. Ian Callum revealed to us that the pop-up rear spoiler on the F-Type coupé has already been engineered to work at 200mph.

Prices will also be close to Porsche 911 Turbo money, which would mean a figure around the £100,000 mark. However, don’t expect to see an F-Type R-S model for at least another 18 months. An R version of the F-Type Cabriolet is likely to come sooner.