I'm glad someone said it, because I was about to...

Also... I have no idea about your financial situation (and it doesn't really matter to me) but if one of your first cars is going to be an F-Type R, you might be setting yourself up for a life of disappointment. If you can handle the car and don't kill yourself, you will be disappointed in any "normal" car you purchase for the rest of your life. If you start "near the top" it's going to be very difficult (read EXPENSIVE) to get into more luxurious, faster, exotic cars as you age...

I also assume you've looked into what insurance rates for an 18 year old will be on a 550 hp, $100k car...

 

I don't know when I suddenly became an old man. Being 18 doesn't seem that long ago to me, but it turns out I am only a few years from being twice your age. My generation is predicated to live to reach 90 if we avoid risks. As a millennial you should see your 100th birthday. 2098 is a very long way away...

(Personally I'm aiming for 80, when they say goodbye to me I want to be covered in scars having fully abused myself and lived long enough to use the phrase "back in my day" to a teenager.)

As StealthPilot and TXJagR have said, the F Type R at your age could well give you the best looking coffin in the whole cemetery.

Of course there are always exceptions - if you've been brought up around fast cars and have the experience behind you then you'll learn its limits quickly. If your driving career is very short, or you have driven cars where making a split second mistake means you kerb your wheel or just hold on tight until you get through it, then strapping yourself to a 550ps engine and a chassis where the fine line between controlled instability (fun) and a fiery death (not fun) is both further away and thinner than the car leads you to believe, may not be a sound life choice to make.

Driving an F Type R is like having a whole new 18 year old version of yourself between your hands and the steering wheel. It's always egging you on to go a little bit faster; to make that risky overtake before a corner because you've driven that road 100 times and there is never anyone driving the other way; or to tell you to rev the engine to impress someone so you don't notice a person stepping into the road in front. It's about seeing some other idiot closing in on you too fast and pulling in to let them overtake. Heck, retuning the radio can lead to 30mph becoming 40mph without even noticing very, very easily indeed. Adjusting the volume as you approach a corner at 60mph could easily see you on the wrong side of the road when you come out the other side. And please, if it isn't already illegal where you live, don't even think about operating a mobile/cell phone while driving one. There is no room for letting your mind wander - that is why it is so much fun when the hard cash could buy you many better driving machines than the Jag.

In my other message I tried to convey the driving experience as being like riding a big cat through a chicken shed. In case the meaning wasn't clear, I was trying to explain how it takes you to the edge of your abilities and forces you to grip tight and be very, very disciplined to control it safely. It's not all the time, and being disciplined is not the same as fighting it, but it can throw it up without any notice so you always need to be prepared. It isn't always down to your control either - a tyre blowout due to road shrapnel can come out of nowhere and you need to react entire milliseconds before the adrenaline is released. I experienced that in my mid 20's in my XJR being a bit careless and changing lanes too late on a busy highway and walked away without any damage to the car except a new rim down to nothing more than pure luck and knowing exactly how hard I could push it without losing it. That was not the first nor last mistake I've made but it was the scariest close call I've ever had behind the wheel and it made me much more appreciative of the real power of fast cars. It's not about throwing them around on a closed circuit for a bit of fun; it's all about remembering that other road users are diving home after a stressful day and are every bit as bad a driver as I am but probably haven't got that experience of almost killing themselves for fun to draw on.

That's why I'm not convinced that graduating from advanced driving courses is enough. They will make you appreciate the car more (I'm planning to do a two day course in my R this coming summer) but they are not a substitute for the scars of experience.

On the one hand your age gives you the mental and physical agility anyone over 25 would love to still have, but on the other hand it also gives you a lot of testosterone and a very high risk threshold. When you reach 25 years old you will have twice or more the experience of handling those than you do now, and you will have gained a much healthier appreciation for your own limits and how to preserve your life but still enjoy it to the max. Everyone will make mistakes when driving at any age, but honestly, said with my own experience, that of my friends, family, and insurance company statistics the world over, you will make the worst of those mistakes in the next 5 years behind the wheel. It's basic evolution theory - you either learn from the mistakes and adapt to avoid them, or your genes become extinct. If you're going to go for the latter option try not to take anyone else's with you.

TXJagR makes the comment that if you obtain the best thrills earliest in your life you will only disappoint yourself with chasing what you can then never achieve. I suspect I am probably younger than TXJagR, but I can see exactly where he is coming from. Just look at the cars in my signature. Even without the dates you can probably work out my progression. I still have them all in regular use. Aim to ensure you fall in love with every car you buy and you'll never be disappointed with any of them. I would hate to be wealthy enough to buy fantastic cars on a whim. If I bought my X Type now I would be severely disappointed with it. I looked at replacing it with an XE but despite the XE being every bit a better car every time I walk away from it knowing I would never be happy with the swap.

As a starter car (which hardly applies here, but I'm unsure what else to call it!) the F Type V6 manual transmission that has been mentioned above is the choice I would make if I could afford any F Type at your age. It will be considerably more fun for you to drive instead of jumping straight into a silly-power automatic. It is every bit as beautiful and 99.9% of the time you will get exactly the same feeling from driving it as you would the R version, and that 0.01% when you brush paths with the grim reaper there is a greater chance you'll see him off. With a snarling snap, crackle and pop from the exhaust! If I could afford two I would have the V6 manual in a flash for my daily car and only use the R at weekends.

 

There's a lot of wise advice being offered here.

I think many very young car enthusiasts come to internet car forums to learn and some actively participate to live vicariously. They aren't in a position to purchase a high-performance machine, but it's fun to pretend that they're buyers, engage in conversation with owners, and fantasize.

There's nothing particularly wrong with this, and it's charming in a way. I remember having the same fantasies as a teenager, but the internet hadn't been "invented" yet.

 

OP, If you do get the F-type R, purchase an AWD model, because the power can be fully utilized IMO. The difference is transformative in terms of safety and usability, but the experience of driving might be underwhelming if you are looking for the opportunity to create clouds of tire smoke. Having owned some extremely fast cars, I am happy to harness the torque of the R effectively. In fact, I feel that the AWD drivetrain could effectively apply yet another 100 lb/ft torque to the road.

I've tried to get the R out of shape on the street (alone at night of course), just to find the limits, and it is tough to do. Turning the nannies off will make things more dicey, so leave them on. It is a great feeling when you can downshift and floor the accelerator at 5000 rpm in a 500+ hp car without lighting them up and going sideways....not that I do that.

 

Ha-ha yeah. AWD is the only option is the US for the Type R I believe.

 

No offense taken man. It's some wise advice honestly. I think I'll be okay and I'm not one of those crazy drivers. I've driven a few car over 500 hp and I'm not saying I'm a race car driver or anything, but I think that since the jag f type is now AWD I will be alright.

 

I built the car and you can get black rims, but I don't see many packages for the US car. It doesn't even have a package for the upgraded surround system unless I missed it, but I don't think so. Also this car comes preety loaded at 107k and you can have a loaded one custom made for about 116k.

 

xDave, what fun is that? (and I'm at least 50% older than than you).
Gursy, don't waste your money learning to drive in an R. You,ll never get full value out of it before you wreck it. Spend some of that $130k on a solid GT racer and the rest over the next 5 years on driver schools and campaigning the car on the SCCA circuits. Then you'll be ready for an R.

 

The fact that you are not a race car driver tells me this is the wrong car at your age, even if you are sensible as you say.

Read this attached thread from the beginning to the end.

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e60...-m-mode-7.html

 

There are no option packages on the R because it comes with everything. You choose, color, wheels, seat color, seat belts, and headliner. That's it.

 

I should have been more specific, you can get the Blade rims, but not the Cyclone or Tornado. Unfortunately IMO, the Cyclone and Tornado are the two best looking.

It does come pretty loaded at 107k. Generally, I'd go for just about all the options remaining, with the exception of the ceramic brakes, unless you are planning to track it a lot and really like the storm wheels (which to me look like H. R. Giger designed them).

 

If you join Jaguar owners club for 6 months, it will get you I believe $2500 off. And trucar dealer was around $6000 off aswell. Something you might want to check into.

As far as someone 18 getting the F type if your responsible and can afford it go for it, but it's the tax, the insurance and the yearly registration which can really add up. But if you invested that kind of money at 18, you could probably retire early and still young. Just something to think about.

 

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