Jaguar has revealed the new F-Pace SUV on the eve of the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show. Its first 4×4, the sporty-looking new ‘performance crossover’ goes on sale in 2016 priced from £34,170.
Jaguar F-Pace SUV revealed in World Record stunt
The new Jaguar F-Pace is a sporty five-seat crossover that has one car in its sights – the Porsche Macan. Jaguar says the standard-setting Porsche is the best car in this sector for driving dynamics – and is the one it’s focused on beating…
Built in Britain at Jaguar’s Solihull plant, the F-Pace is targeted with bringing a whole new sector of customer to the Jaguar brand. 4 in 5 buyers will be new to the brand and, of all the firm’s new cars, it’s the F-Pace that will “forever change perceptions of the brand”.
The idea of designing an SUV, admits Jaguar design director Ian Callum, was something “I never dreamt of doing”. Jaguar, after all, owns Land Rover, which only makes… SUVs. However, the market now demands SUVs in all shapes and guises – so Jaguar had to respond.
The Jaguar F-Pace is thus designed as a performance crossover SUV, one that takes direct influences from the Jaguar F-Pace (hence the name).
Unlike Land Rovers, you’ll rarely see F-Pace off-road; but you will, hopes the brand, see them in high streets across the world – the medium-sized SUV sector the F-Pace competes in is set to grow 50% between now and 2020…
F-Pace: concept car to production
The Jaguar F-Pace is the production version of Jaguar’s stunning C-X17 concept car, revealed two years ago at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show. This was the first clear signal that the brand wanted to make an SUV…
Since C-X17, Jaguar’s been working hard to productionise it, says Callum. “Every millimetre has changed since the concept – but not so you’d notice.” Can you tell the difference?
“The F-Pace is true to the spirit of Jaguar,” says designer Callum. “It has elegance, a sense of speed and motion that most SUVs don’t have.” Size-wise, it’s similar to the Porsche Macan, and will also compete with the Audi Q5 and BMW X3.
Callum uses descriptions such as strong proportions, sweeping rooflines and strong haunches to describe the F-Pace. “I could be talking about the F-Type, and this is no coincidence – there’s a lot of that car in the F-Pace.”
The tail lights are similar to the Jaguar F-Pace – which, said Callum, are influenced by the E-Type. Most won’t realise this but “I know where it came from,” he said…
It’s a five-seat SUV – you wouldn’t be able to get that sweeping roofline if it was a seven-seater. Jaguar has no plans to make a seven-seat version: it’ll leave that market to Land Rover.
Callum’s given the F-Pace a simple look inside, in contrast to the ‘fussy’ interiors of some rivals. Once cool feature is the illuminated smartphone holders on the centre console – after all, says Callum, who wants to store smartphones in cupholders…
Jaguar says the F-Pace has the world’s most advanced infotainment system, with more computer processing power than a Boeing 777. It’s called InControl Touch Pro and uses a 100GB SSD, Ethernet networking and a quad core processor.
The F-Pace even debuts a new piece of wearable Jaguar technology – the Activity Key. This is a waterproof band you can wear when swimming, that unlocks the car instead of a key. It’s a Jaguar first.
It’s built on Jaguar’s aluminium-intensive architecture also used by the new XE and XF. It has double wishbone front suspension and Integral Link rear suspension that are sold in three grades – two of them the same as on the sporty F-Type.
Most F-Pace will likely be sold with the 2.0-litre turbodiesel engine, offered in rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive guise. It also offers a V6 turbo diesel and the two V6 engines taken straight from the F-Pace – it currently thus produces up to 380hp, for 0-60mph in 5.1 seconds. Watch out, Macan…
The Jaguar F-Pace will cost from £34,170: that will buy you a 180hp 2.0-litre Ingenium turbodiesel with a manual gearbox and rear-wheel drive.
Deliveries of the Jaguar F-Pace will begin in 2016, although the firm says customers can head over to its website right now to start configurating the car.
The F-Pace will be sold in familiar Jaguar trim lines: Prestige (from £34,170), R-Sport (from £36,670), Portfolio (from £39,170) and the sporty S (from £51,450).
Jaguar has an extra range-topping model for the launch of the F-Pace, called First Edition. This has extras such as mighty 22-inch alloys, Windsor leather seats, LED headlights and a panoramic roof. It costs from £65,275.
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