UPGRADE TO CUB CLASS
FAMED for its record breaking barrel-roll feat, Jaguar’s new E-Pace baby SUV has now officially hit the road. And I was one of the first to get behind the wheel — on and off road — of the family-friendly 4x4 packed with sports- car performance and a top speed of up to 150mph. That included a rather nerve-racking test of its promised ‘ cat- like agility’ on Brighton seafront that was a far cry from the school run.
Jaguar set up a tough, sloping test track close to the city’s i360 observation tower as part of the model’s international launch.
This, the smaller sibling to the F-Pace, has been dubbed ‘the Cub’ by engineers. A silhouette design of mother jaguar and cub has even been incorporated into the windscreen and shines on the ground in shadow form from the puddle light beamed down from the wing mirror.
This five-seater has feline looks and rides on big wheels of up to 21 inches. It is powered by one of five frugal, but high-performance 2-litre four- cylinder Ingenium engines — two petrol of 250 bhp and 300 bhp and three diesel of 150 bhp, 180 bhp and 240 bhp.
It is priced from £28,500 for the 150 bhp manual diesel, up to £45,800 for the First Edition diesel linked to a nine- speed automatic gearbox. Biggest seller is likely to be the midpowered diesel, from £32,550. Bosses say the model has been designed to be ‘ chuckable’. Mainly front wheel drive, it’ll pump power to the rear wheels when needed to boost grip on tight corners, muddy tracks or assault courses such as the one I tackled in Brighton.
Back in July the E-Pace entered Guinness World Records with a death- defying 270- degree corkscrew style barrel-roll stunt, mirroring one in the Bond film The Man With The Golden Gun.
More than nine out of ten customers will be new to the Jaguar brand, the firm predicts. But it will be built in Austria and China, making it the first Jaguar to be built outside Britain.
So is the new E-Pace the purrfect Jaguar SUV with suitably sharp claws and teeth to match its sleek feline contours?
That would be letting the cat out of the bag. But start preening those whiskers. A full road test follows here soon.