Summer, sun, a gentle breeze. A day made for a country party. British style with a Jaguar. If you are looking for one of the timelessly elegant limousines or convertibles of the luxury brand, you should start to rethink. Since April last year, Jaguar is swimming with the F-Pace on the SUV wave, which should have been a slap in the face for all tradition-obsessed enthusiasts. But the prejudice that a high - legged city and off - roader can not be a jaguar has long been laid. The success of the F-Pace, which was named "Car of the Year" and "Women's Car of the Year" last year, seems to justify the British investment in the construction of an SUV. You already have a smaller version in the pipeline.
Our test car with four-wheel drive and in innocent white rolls to the front door. Visually there is a lot of F-Type in the F-Pace, which derives its name from the Latin "passage", the step. A big step, the tallest jaguar with a height of more than 1,60 meters. Behind the aggressive-looking front with the slotted LEDs, the central grille and the large air inlets, there is a muscular sheet metal skin with a short overhang at the front and a long one at the back. The elegant waist and the beautifully shaped and flowing rear lights complete the sporty image. Inside, up to five people can be comfortably seated on the finest leather, at the front for an additional charge on 14-way heated and coolable seats. Despite the slightly sloping roof line, no one has to complain about a lack of headroom at the back. However, the driver as a whole lacks an overview, so that the investment in the camera with “surround view” - in very good resolution - is worthwhile in any case. There is space for 650 in the trunk behind the sensor-controlled electric tailgate and after folding down the three-part rear seat with up to 1740 liters of storage space. There is additional space for odds and ends under the loading floor, unless you order a spare bike.
The materials in the cockpit look almost without exception high-quality, just with the hollow-feeling instrument cover above the steering wheel, the British have obviously saved on the quality of the plastic in favor of the overall weight of the luxury SUV. The switches for the power windows are located in the top of the door, a bit surprisingly. Probably just takes getting used to, as is the operation of the infotainment system via the 10,2 inch display touchpad with its nice, large, colorful tiles. The deeper you penetrate the levels, the more confusing they become. Our destination can be entered in the navigation system, just to start the route guidance requires a trick that is not immediately apparent.
When the start button is pressed, the stylish automatic rotary control slowly rises from its recess in the center console. Jaguar relies on the eight-stage automatic converter from ZF. Put your arm down casually, turn it from P to D, accelerate, and the gearbox sorts the right gears without a second thought. Under the hood of our test car, the six-cylinder biturbo diesel works with 300 hp and 700 Nm. With a strong push on the accelerator pedal, it provides a lot of propulsion for the two-ton SUV. On the other hand, he acknowledges a largely cautious driving style with a view to consumption with a slight sluggishness, but with an average consumption of 8,5 liters instead of the 6,0 liters specified by Jaguar. Still a decent value for a car of this size. Alternatively, Jaguar also offers a four-cylinder diesel with 180 hp and two six-cylinder petrol engines with 340 and 380 hp for the F-Pace. The starting price for the Jaguar F-Pace is 43 euros, for our test car you have to put almost 560 euros on the table. A steep price, but not really oversized for cars in this class.
Text and photos: Solveig Grewe