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TONE STYLE
At times, it’s best to
keep your top on
The results are indeed smashing, and
the coupe succeeds on every level. It
not only casts a sleek silhouette, the additional
rigidity of the coupe improves on
the already highly competent roadster
chassis, sharpening the handling even
further. You don’t really notice it until you
drive the two back to back—the hardtop
really gets the nod for driving purists.
This is made perfectly clear while
behind the wheel of the coupe at Willow
Springs Raceway with Davy Jones (not
the ghost of the Monkees, but the ‘96
winner of the 24 hours of LeMans) in the
passenger seat telling me I’m braking
too late, repeatedly. Where the ragtop
feels great for a convertible, with no
scuttle shake, the coupe is a few major
degrees more crisp, with no sense of
squirm under hard braking, or making a
slight course correction in the midst of a
high-speed sweeper.
Serious music enthusiasts will enjoy
the coupe for yet another reason: the
380-watt Meridian sound system that
comes standard with the F-TYPE. An
extra 1,200 dollars steps you up to the
12-speaker, 770-watt Meridian system.
We described the system in depth in Issue
58 and concluded that with the increased
cabin noise of the soft top, the
upcharge for the bigger system is hardly
worth it; however the coupe is a different
game entirely.
The dual purpose exhaust system
stays quiet while tooling around town,
giving the F-TYPE the civility of a luxury
sports sedan, yet when the accelerator
pedal is mashed to the floor, the baffle
opens, providing more than enough
growl to feel sporty. Even more so with
the 550 hp, supercharged V-8.
(continued)
120 TONE AUDIO NO.64
800-262-4675
BenchmarkMedia.com
DAC1 HDR
Stereo Pre-Amp with Remote Control
DAC / Headphone Amp / USB
“...a great all around piece.
Tone Audio
“ Damn close to a perfect piece of equipment.
The Audio Critic
“
“
Made In
Syracuse, NY, U.S.A.