Jaguar F-Type V6 recalled over spoiler danger

JAGUAR has recalled some of its latest fiery F-Type sportscars over a management system software glitch that the company says could cause a safety issue above 217km/h – almost double the maximum legal highway speed limit in all Australian states except the Northern Territory.

The British brand says it has discovered that the speed limiter on 2015-model supercharged V6 F-Types fails to kick in as expected when the automatic deployable rear spoiler fails to pop up for some reason.

A recall notice posted on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission website says that when the car exceeds 217km/h with the spoiler down, “vehicle stability will be compromised and the degree of directional control minimised”.

“This significantly increases the risk of an accident,” it says.

This is because the 120kg of downforce created by the rear spoiler is absent, potentially causing the car to lose rear grip at high speeds. The speed limiter is supposed to kick in to prevent the car reaching unsafe speeds when this happens.

Jaguar Land Rover Australia has identified seven affected cars in this country, with all owners to be noticed by mail and asked to return the car to their dealership for the installation of correctly calibrated software.

Cars in with vehicle identification number (VIN) range of SAJAA65B5F8K15254 to SAJAC61B5F8K15884 are affected, although it is unclear if this includes both coupe and convertible models.

The 250kW V6 Supercharged F-Type Coupe has a top speed of 260km/h, while the 280kW V6 Supercharged F-Type S can hit 275km/h.