Touted by the British marque as the ‘world’s ultimate practical sportscar’, Jaguar introduced the F-Pace in spectacular style at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Read on for more
Story: Team Car India
Photography: Jaguar
Jaguar have showcased the F-Pace at the Frankfurt Motor Show via a gravity-defying spectacle that had the F-Pace do the world’s largest 360-degree loop. The F-Pace is Jaguar’s first modern performance crossover and is designed and engineered to offer agility, responsiveness and refinement together with excellent dynamics and everyday usability. Developed using Jaguar’s Lightweight Aluminium Architecture, the all-new F-Pace delivers on the promise of the breakthrough C-X17 concept vehicle and combines purity of line, surface and proportion with F-Type-inspired features such as the powerful rear haunches, fender vents and distinctive tail light graphics. The five-seater promises generous head and knee room for five adults and a more than generous luggage capacity of 650 litres.
The F-Pace gets Jaguar’s InControl Touch Pro system, which is based around a 10.2-inch touchscreen, with a powerful quad-core processor and solid-state drive, and runs on ultra-fast Ethernet. Up to eight devices can be connected to the vehicle’s super-fast wifi hotspot at one time. Meanwhile, the navigation system offers true door-to-door guidance and can even advise others of your arrival time. Navigation can also be shown full-screen – in 3D – in the 12.3-inch HD virtual instrument cluster.
The Lightweight Aluminium Architecture gave the Jaguar design and engineering teams – now recognised globally as leaders in aluminium technology and design – the ideal starting point. It was created from the outset as a modular structure, so the wheels can be positioned exactly where they are needed to deliver the proportions, dynamics, and practicality essential for a performance crossover. The wheelbase and track are not shared with any other Jaguar. At 4,731mm long and with a 2,874mm wheelbase, the all-new F-Pace offers the sleek profile and short front overhang characteristic of Jaguar design together with an exceptionally spacious interior.
The powertrain range will consist of four engine options – a 180 PS two-litre diesel with manual transmission and RWD or AWD and automatic transmission with AWD; a 240 PS two-litre petrol engine with automatic transmission and RWD; a 300 PS three-litre diesel engine with an automatic gearbox and AWD; a three-litre petrol automatic with AWD, which will put out 340 PS or 380 PS depending on state of tune.
The body’s high torsional stiffness enables the F-TYPE-derived double wishbone front suspension and sophisticated Integral Link rear suspension to perform even better. Together with Torque Vectoring as standard and an Electric Power Assisted Steering system tuned to give the best possible feel and response, the all-new F-Pace sets the benchmark for ride and handling.
Even the entry-level model benefits from monotube dampers as standard, but for even better ride and handling the electronically-controlled Adaptive Dynamics system measures body and wheel movement 100 and 500 times a second respectively, ensuring optimum damping forces in all conditions. For the most enthusiastic drivers there’s Configurable Dynamics: first used in the F-Type, this feature allows individual settings for the throttle, automatic transmission, steering, and, where fitted, the Adaptive Dynamics system.
