When Jaguar spent what must have been a considerable amount of money using the façade of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world tallest building, to advertise the F-Pace – a world first, by the way, they had to follow that up by delivering a car that was more than just another new Crossover/SUV, particularly as this is their first venture into this market.
The Burj Khalifa exercise was truly spectacular and pushed the hype level surrounding this vehicle off the dial but they were clearly confident that when the F-Pace hit the road it would surpass all expectation levels created by the marketing gurus – and how right they were.
But before I go into just how good this vehicle is I want to mention the colour because this is one of those vehicles where colour choice is absolutely critical. The test drive car supplied to me by Al Tayer Motors was silver and it looks pretty cool but the best colour, by a long way, is blue with 22-inch black wheels.
Don’t ask me why but this combination really shows this vehicle off at its very best. Anyway, moving swiftly on, the F-Pace is yet another example of the incredible progress Jaguar have made since its Indian owners took over.
Aesthetically, it is super-cool, with the design clearly inspired by the F-Type sports car. The front black mesh grille, air intakes, and front spoiler give the vehicle a fantastic aggressive appearance, the side profile is sleek and athletic and the rear is distinctively beautiful with the wraparound tail-lights copied from the F-Type.
The F-Pace I drove also sat on 22-inch wheels which really add to the vehicles visual impact, so don’t go for the 20- inch wheels that come as standard. Inside, the car’s luxurious and distinctive design theme continues with high-grade leather seats which are immensely comfortable, nicely designed centre and a new 10.2 inch infotainment screen.
There is also a terrific 12-inch virtual instrument cluster which can be configured to suit your teste. The infotainment system is worth mentioning because our car came with InControl Touch Pro, which Jaguar claims is the world’s most advanced system.
That is a bold boast but I have to say that it is certainly impressive with all the connectivity you need, ability to set up the handling of the car the way you want it and an excellent sat-nav system. It is also easy to use without spending hours trying to work out what’s what.
The instrument cluster is also cutting edge and again very simple to understand with all the information required made available instantly and clearly. The car can be driven in four modes, eco, comfort, dynamic and a setting for extreme weather conditions.
Dynamic is the best mode if you are looking to get the maximum performance out of this vehicle which has a 3.0-litre supercharged V6 engine with 380bhp and 450nm of torque. It comes straight out of the FType S and has also been used successfully in the XF S Jaguar.
Hooked up to an excellent 8-speed automatic gearbox, with paddleshifts, if you want a bit more fun behind the wheel, this engine is extremely potent and at high revs makes a very entertaining noise.
The F-Pace is built using Jaguar’s aluminium architecture which means it is reasonable light for its size, at 1,861kg and that means a healthy power to weight ratio, or put simply, more grunt.
It has a 0-100kmh time of around 5.4 seconds and a top speed of 250kmh and it handles like a big sports car, so it is a delight to drive. I am sure it does have reasonable capability off-road but I didn’t put that to the test and I doubt many people who buy this vehicle will wander too far off the beaten tarmac.
The handling is impressive, thanks to its refined aerodynamics, F-Type-like technology which include torque vectoring, adaptive dynamics and an advanced suspension system.
Almost perfect traction is achieved by this car’s torque-on-demand AWD technology – something called Intelligent Driveline Dynamics which effectively delivers power to the rear wheels to give the F-Pace agility, but can also transfer torque to the front wheels when driving style or conditions require it.
The F-Pace is hugely important to Jaguar who having clawed their way back with their cars cannot afford to fall flat on their face in the increasingly popular small SUV/ Crossover sector.
It has been compared with the BMW X3 and the Porsche Macan, but Jaguar will tell you their intention was to position the F-Pace in its own sector and I think they have achieved that, whilst keeping the Germans on their toes.
It is a bold step by Jaguar but the right one and the F-Pace writes an impressie new chapter in the marque’s history as this big car goes on the prowl.
