Jaguar’s first SUV was unveiled this week at the 2015 Frankfurt Auto Show. The F-Pace was formally announced at the 2015 North American International Auto Show in Detroit and it’s based on the Jaguar C-X17 concept car. The company calls the F Pace “The World’s Most Practical Sportscar,” which may be a stretch considering the segment offers some interesting options from BMW, Mercedes and Audi. Jaguar design director Ian Callum told the crowd at the Frankfurt Auto Show that he’d “not envisioned” designing an SUV when he first started working for Jaguar 15 years ago.
Design tweaks like short front and rear overhangs, sporty fenders, slim headlights and taillights, along with optional 22-inch alloy wheels, give the car a sporty and dynamic look. The headlights are familiar to those who’ve seen a new XE or XF on the road, and the grille has been carried over from other Jaguars.
On the inside, the Jaguar F-Pace is surprisingly simplistic with a focus on practicality and ergonomics. It has a legroom of 944mm and knee room of 65mm in the second row. The rear seats are higher by 10mm than the front to allow the rear passengers a better view of the front. The front seats can be adjusted in as many as 14 different.
The Pace’s instrument cluster features a 12.3-inch, full color, TFT screen which can be customized completely to display exactly the information you want it to display in four different themes. It also features a four color laser head-up display. The F-Pace also brings a new infotainment system, dubbed “Ín Control Touch Pro” featuring a Quadcore processor, a 100GB Solid State Hard drive, 1Gb/s ethernet which can connect as many as eight devices at once using a WiFi hotspot, a 10.2 inch touchscreen and a 825Watt 17-speaker Meridian music system.
Its base engine, for one, is the 3.0 liter V6 found in the F-Type with 380 horsepower delivering 5.1 seconds from zero to 60. A ZF-sourced eight-speed transmission sends the power to all wheels while the electronically limited top speed is set at 155 miles per hour.
Built on an aluminum chassis, the F-Pace weighs 3,913 pounds.
The F-Pace looks to be gunning for rivals like the Porsche Macan, Lexus RX, Mercedes GLC-Class, BMW X3, X4 and the Audi SQ5. Its prices are ranging from $40,990 to $56,700.
The Caesium Blue Jaguar F-Pace First Edition model will have 2,000 units globally and all come loaded with options.
