2015 Jaguar F-Type R AWD Coupé first drive

It’s wet under-tyre. So wet that applying liberal amounts of throttle in a conventional Jaguar F-Type R Coupé would fill the air with a heady mix of steam and vaporised rubber long before you’d reached the throttle stop.

But what’s this? The F-Type R goes. No slip, no fuss, no drama. Well, lots of drama, but of the quick and noisy rather than the slow and noisy kind.

The 2016 model year F-Type is available with four-wheel-drive, you see. Visual clues? There are subtle badges, and a bonnet reprofile necessitated by a 10mm engine lift, required to accommodate the AWD gubbins. 

Not that they take up a lot of room: alongside the automatic gearbox sits an electronically controlled clutch, which also pinches an inch or so of left-side footwell; its job is to push as much power to the front wheels as they need. 

Theoretically, that could be all of it. In reality, it’s only ever up to about 30 per cent. And most of the time it’s precisely none at all.

AWD is available on range-topping 5.0-litre R models and mid-point 3.0 V6 S models, but base 3.0 V6 cars remain rear drive only. 

On all F-Types, the steering becomes electrically rather than hydraulically assisted, but it retains Jaguar’s trademark slickness and smoothness. 

Also new for the 2016 model year (yes, I realise you still haven’t recycled your 2014 Christmas tree) is a manual gearbox option on rear-drive V6 and V6 S models. Praise be.

All-wheel-drive F-Type first, then, and it’s the traction difference that’s the biggie. Genuinely, it’s a huge improvement when you’re asking for a lot of power in anything other than high-grip conditions.

Much of the rest of the time, the AWD model feels just like the RWD model – because unless you’re going to trouble the rear wheels, the fronts aren’t driven at all, so it is solely rear-driven.

The electronic clutch control unit knows what throttle and steering inputs you’ve asked for, and monitors traction underfoot too, so it only sends power forward when it thinks it’s genuinely necessary. 

That means the F-Type retains its inherent character, despite a marginal increase in front spring and damper rates, to offset the 80kg weight increase and slightly raised centre of gravity. 

So it’s during acceleration, then, or once the back steps out in a corner, where the difference is felt. A rear-drive F-Type steps out quite often. In the all-wheel-drive car, the car slides a little before the front gets some power to help pull it straight.

When Jaguar lends us one without an instructor alongside who doesn’t prevent us from switching off the stability control, we’ll find out what it’s like beyond that point.

The new electrically assisted steering retains its trademark Jaguar feel: positive around the straight-ahead, slick, linear and accurate away from it. It’s a good steering rack.