Jaguar is heading inevitably – like all car manufacturers – towards a fully electric and almost silent future from 2025. But before entering this new era of modern luxury, the British company wanted to “preserve” sound recordings of its iconic sports car; the F-Type V8.
Capturing the unmistakable supercharged sound of the English coupe’s V8 engine, these recordings, made inside the cabin and from outside the vehicle, have been made available to the British Library so that people around the world can forever revel in the sound of the car. sound of Jaguar’s latest sports car with an internal combustion engine.
The recordings were made in a semi-anechoic chamber at the Gaydon Engineering Centre, a soundproof room that has been used to develop and test the refinement and sound quality of Jaguar vehicles. It was in this same room that the original exhaust tone of the model was created.
On this occasion, an R 75 Coupé in Ligurian Satin Black was chosen to create the 30 and 47 second tracks. They begin with the engine cranking, where the distinctive initial flash is instantly recognizable as the revs build, before idling to 600rpm and the unique notes of the eight-cylinder giving a subtle nod to the car’s performance potential. Then, different typical sounds, including downshifts and downshifts, are emulated in-camera.
Every time the F-type accelerates, the exhaust system’s valves open to alter the path of the exhaust gases and produce the unmistakable roar of the wild and raucous V8 driving experience. The audio quality allows you to clearly hear the upshifts and downshifts of the eight-speed Quickshift transmission, as well as the distinctive crackles of its four exhaust pipes at the limit, a key part of the visceral character of this version.
Charles Richardson, Jaguar’s Senior Sound Engineer, said: “The sound of the F-Type’s supercharged V8 engine is totally unique thanks to the painstaking optimization work we carried out to develop the entire powertrain, especially the induction and exhaust systems, which they went through more than 85 versions before bringing the vehicle to market and have continued to constantly evolve ever since. The result of our work is that sound that we hear when driving the F-Type R 75 and we want the next generations to be able to enjoy it too. We are therefore proud to be able to keep it in the British Library.”
The thunderous sound of this vehicle will be preserved in the British Library’s National Sound Archive, along with the voice of Florence Nightingale, among other famous documents, and some of the earliest recordings of cars on the road, for generations to come to hear. in the future.
Cheryl Tipp, British Library Curator of Wildlife and Environmental Sounds, added: “It is a pleasure to be able to preserve recordings of the F-Type’s V8 engine for Jaguar enthusiasts and the public around the world. Now that production of this engine is coming to an end, its unique sound will take its rightful place in the national archives alongside other sounds that no longer exist.”
For the farewell recording of the era of internal combustion engine sports cars, an R 75 Coupé MY24 was chosen, a special edition that pays tribute to the final version of the F-Type and 75 years of Jaguar sports cars. This example is only offered with all-wheel drive and incorporates a supercharged V8 5.0 engine with 575 HP and 700 Nm of torque that allows it to go from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.5 seconds and reach an electronically limited top speed of 300 km/h. h.
