Huge paddle shifters, a sleek roofline, masculine side panel. It’s not difficult to notice where Jag’s first ever sports utility inherited some serious curves from the voluptuous F-type. With goods and service tax out of the way, I was more than ready to take the big cat home.
The Fpace I drove earlier today was equipped with a 2-liter Ingenium turbo petrol engine that does the century in 6.8 seconds and tops out at an uninspiring 217 km/h. Once inside, it does feel like you are inside their sports car, only with more space. When the wheels start to roll, you will notice the passive ride is adequate but not as compliant as the XE which still is, seriously good.
PRO
Muscular looks
Decent kit
Breath of fresh air
CON
Lethargic performance
SPECIFICATION
2-litre inline-4
250hp 365Nm 8-speed ZF
0-100 km/h: 6.8s
Top speed: 217 km/h
RM 449,000
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It is quite amazing for Jaguar to have achieved a weight of 50:50 front to back which really shows in the driving department. The F Pace does provide an enjoyable drive where steering is tuned towards the sportier side of things especially so when compared to cars in this category. Brakes slow things down progressively and when required, bites hard at all four corner bites with no fuss. Transmission too does a good job at shifting smoothly through eight ratios.
At 1760 kilograms, it does prove that English metal is heavier than German because a 2009 Audi Q5’s 6.9 will always be faster than F pace’s sprint to a hundred. Throttle response isn’t the best of things not for the fact that this vehicle is turbocharged but more to the side of things where this car has the wrong heart.
On the flip side, what's surprisingly standard on the F-pace are 20” wheels, keyless entry, tyre monitor, Meridian speakers, to just name a few. Despite Jaguar not selling by volume, its touchscreen is easier to use than say a Merc’s. Unfortunately, more innovative features like active key, adaptive cruise control or sign recognition are not specified locally.
If you’re into Ian Callum designs, never go to places in a hurry and have a lot of stuff to fit into a car (like 650 litres worth of things), the F-pace is the very car. At the end of the day, I walked out of the F with mixed feelings and went home with an order form for sadly, not an F-pace nor is it a Jag so place your bets and watch this space.