A fully camouflaged prototype of the Jaguar F-Pace was recently filmed going around the Nurburgring. We see British leapers on the track all the time, but this is a little different. The F-Pace is the first crossover ever built by the company, so we were naturally curious to see how it handled.
As its name suggests, the F-Pace is inspired by the very successful F-Type coupe and roadster. The name is derived from Jaguar's original motto "grace, pace and space", and even though the decision to use it was widely criticized, we're growing to like it.
In any case, the big news with this prototype is that you can clearly hear the supercharged V6 engine, which sounds the same as it does on the XE S sedan. Both cars are based on the same platform and are likely going to share the 340 PS power output.
Not all F-Pace models are going to be powered by a V6 engine though. In fact, Jaguar bosses initially said they weren't going to offer such a thing. But considering very few six-cylinder engines offered on SUVs sound this good, we're glad they did.
The rest of the portfolio will be made up of new 2-liter diesel and petrol engines from the Ingenium family. They should offer outputs that vary between 163 PS for the most efficient diesel to 240 PS for the most powerful petrol (maybe even 285 PS). It all falls neatly in line with that Mercedes, BMW or Audi are offering.
All of these models will be introduced in 2016. However, development of the fully electric model has begun, with reports suggesting it will come in 2017 with a range of 300 miles (483 km).
Jaguar global sales director Andy Goss said the crossover will be marketed as "the ultimate practical sports car", which we believe is true. Just looking at this video, we can tell you the F-Pace corners better than some of its rivals. Very few owners will want to take it on the track, but the fact that it lives up to the Jaguar badge is comforting.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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