COOL BRITANNIA

cloth seats and no sat nav but does score a 10inch touchscreen, solid safety kit and two- zone climate control. It’s not sumptuous inside, but the dash layout is classy, with an elegant centre console housing the widescreen display. It also has quality grained leather seats.

Despite the E- Pace’s coupe- esque roofline the rear seats have brilliant headroom, although leg space is a tad cramped.

The boot too, at 484 litres, is of decent size for the class, although with rear seats folded it doesn’t have the room of many key rivals.

There are a few cheaper- feeling dash elements — the gear shifter surround the biggest culprit — but overall the E- Pace oozes style, especially if you option a brighter, daring cabin colour. First thing to note is that the E- Pace is a true fat cat. It’s built on an all- new platform but the D240 weighs over 1900kg, meaning you have two- tonnes to punt along with driver on board.

Jag’s larger F- Pace SUV is more than 100kg lighter thanks to its largely aluminium structure; the E- Pace has gone the cheaper steel route.

The fact the E- Pace drives so well despite its bulk, particularly when hustled around corners, is a credit to the engineers.

This is partly down to the D240’ s Active Driveline AWD system, which rewards enthusiastic cornering and feels nicely balanced if you’re smooth with directional changes.

The diesel engine has some zest when pushed and works in harmony with the impressive auto gearbox.

Lesser E- Paces feature a more basic AWD system, but all variants I tested felt exactly as core buyers should expect: solid, safe and with a dash of playfulness thrown in.

Those on larger 19- or 20- inch wheels suffer more cabin tyre noise and you feel the road bumps more acutely, but for town and highway use it’s a refined and well- insulated drive.

It is still a Jag, after all.