Jaguar F-pace SVR
Run a second Jag with a supercharged V8? Don’t mind if we do…
TWO JAGS? MAKES YOU THINK OF A politician, if you’re of a certain age, but it’s true: evo really is running two Jaguars on the Fast Fleet. Let me introduce you to the second of those, our ‘new’ F-pace SVR in Ultra Blue Metallic.
The irony of such a situation isn’t lost on us, given Jaguars have been largely absent from evo’s pages for quite a few years. There are a number of reasons, obvious and less so, for that, but what I’m realising – as I believe my learned colleague Mr Meaden is also finding with his F-type – is that a good Jaguar is something to be cherished, and the fact there are very few of them left on sale as the firm commits early and wholeheartedly to electrification, is a great pity.
This is not what I thought I’d think about the F-pace. I am not, I must say, an ‘SUV person’. Or more to the point, not a great one for performance SUVS. If there was a saloon or, even better, an estate version of the SVR package then I wouldn’t choose the SUV even one time out of a hundred. But there isn’t – at least not any more, the days of XFRS and XFR-SS long gone. So the F-pace it is, and already I happen to think it’s really quite wonderful. But before we get into that, here are some details on the car.
Unlike our F-type, this 21-plate F-pace equates to running a used car, which is highly unusual with a manufacturer-supplied long-termer. But like many firms, Jaguar has been hit hard with Covidrelated supply-chain and chip issues, and new stock that is available is being channelled towards satisfying customer demand. Nevertheless, Jaguar wanted us to run an F-pace and had ‘GJX’, which had already seen service on the company’s fleet to the tune of over 20,000 miles. So rather than being defleeted it has found a new home with evo. It’ll be interesting to see how well screwed together it feels as the miles rise further still.
The SVR’S basic retail price shows as £77,595 on the road, but ours listed at £81,565 when new thanks to £415 of privacy glass, a £1275 fixed panoramic glass roof, the £420 Meridian surround sound system and £1300 for ‘Pixel’ LED headlights. A lockable cooled glovebox was a further £60 (why not just make it standard?), an air quality sensor £60 (ditto), cabin air ionisation and filters £140, and a wireless phone charging tray £300. Today the value is around £70,000.
In true evo tradition the big blue Jag and I have hit the ground running – nearly 1500 miles in the first week to be exact. Many of those were heading to the Ring and back with photographer Aston Parrott for this issue’s Ferrari Daytona SP3 feature, and if the SVR had already made a fine first impression then it really proved its mettle on this trip, neatly encapsulating what makes this car so appealing. In Comfort mode it is exactly that: a car with that smooth, effortless, entirely predictable steering response, beautifully judged throttle actuation and relaxed ride that mark out the best Jags. It swallows long distances whole, and there’s
always that cultured, woofling V8 backbeat. I’ve never been the biggest fan of the Aj-series V8s, but the integration here is so good and it has so much sheer grunt at all times, effortlessly accelerating into gaps or gaining speed on a motorway. Perhaps because big V8s are largely a thing of the past now it stands out even more, but it’s worth the purchase price alone.
Then you can switch to Dynamic when the road turns twisty and you really feel and hear the full 542bhp. True, the SVR might not ultimately be quite as athletic as a Macan Turbo, but honestly, with two simple driver modes and such a broad bandwidth of ability it’s perfectly judged. And unlike the obvious German rivals, it’s warm and cosseting on the inside and somehow less… um, obnoxious on the outside. So good was it that I wondered whether I was going to be able to prise the key out of Aston’s hand at the end of our road trip…
Fuel consumption? Well, when it arrived someone had clearly been having fun as the trip was showing 20.5mpg. I have to say I gulped pretty hard at that point, what with the current outrageous fuel prices, but with a genuine mix of real-world driving it has settled on 25-26mpg and on the long cruise across Europe it was managing 30mpg. Not amazing, but far from tragic for an SUV with a supercharged V8.
So, early days, then, but maybe Baron John Leslie Prescott had the right idea.
Date acquired July 2022 Total mileage 22,050 Mileage this month 1455 Costs this month £0 mpg this month 25.6