Best Jaguar SUVs / 4WDs

One of my favourite luxury SUV picks – This is the P400 SE trim of Jaguar’s larger SUV, and it’s now equipped with Jaguar Land Rover’s turbocharged inline six cylinder motor. For those who… Read more

don’t know, the inline six engine is integral to Jaguar’s history. It's the motor that was the heart of one of the most iconic cars to ever be produced: the E-TYPE.

I’ve had plenty of personal experience when it comes to build quality on Jaguar Land Rover products, being lucky enough that they have been my family’s car of choice for over a decade.

Over time, quality has been carefully improved, and here in the F-PACE, it’s close to peak build quality for the money.

Rivalling Lexus’ attention to detail, the Jaguar oozes luxury from the quality of its leather seats to its button presses and accuracy in stitching and embroidery.

The Jaguar F-PACE P400 SE is priced from $98,654 before on-roads, which will get you a bit more standard equipment and more importantly, this 400hp motor.

Our tester had a fair few options on it, including the 22 inch wheel and Pirelli tyre package, panoramic sunroof, Meridian sound system and the ‘Activity Watch Key’.

The total price including options and on-roads was $117,498 for this particular vehicle.

Recently, Jaguar and Land Rover have upped their warranty offering from 3 years to 5 years/unlimited kilometres; this also includes 5 years of roadside assistance. That’s a much needed improvement in peace of mind to help address the elephant in the room that is reliability.

I was lucky enough to experience the F-PACE with a Meridian audio system which was an optional extra, as it also housed active noise cancelling for added ride comfort. At any speed, the Jaguar dampened every element of exterior noise to the point where you really didn’t want to leave this cone of silence. There was a hint of engine noise emanating into the cabin in Comfort and Eco driving modes. However, in Sport mode the Jaguar made sure you knew you had 400hp under the bonnet, in the form of additional exhaust noise (both real and pumped in).

Front brakes measure in at 380mm and rear brakes come in at 325mm, providing plenty of stopping power for this SUV. Painted red brake callipers were optional and highlighted these sizeable brakes, helping bring a bit of dynamic colour to the exterior of this Jag.

With a claimed 0-100km/h time of 5.4 seconds, this isn’t a slow car by any means. Your school run just got a whole lot easier with this P400 motor, which is a 3.0L mild-hybrid, turbocharged inline six cylinder, and is also fitted with an electric supercharger. In short, it’s a complex but powerful motor. The complexity will be covered under your warranty, but what you will notice is the 294kW and 550Nm on tap. Peak kW can be accessed as soon as 5,500rpm and peak torque can be accessed as low as 2,000rpm.

The mild-hybrid system offers instant off-the-line acceleration, alongside better efficiency at highway speeds. You get the benefits of a hybrid for jumping off the start-line, without the additional weight of carrying around a large battery pack.

Fitted to the F-PACE is an 8-speed automatic transmission, similar to the one we tested in the Defender. Here, the transmission is more performance oriented, with the option to manually shift via steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters, which are some of the most rewarding and beautiful looking paddles I’ve seen in this segment.

From what I experienced, it not only drove like a Jag, but it provided a rewarding and compelling driving experience when pushed right to the knife’s edge. The F-PACE’s dynamic ability was phenomenal. This is where a more powerful motor is appreciated, to really highlight the ability this SUV has to settle into corners, and quickly pivot out of an apex and into the next section of road. You’re able to sit lower in the cabin, and really feel more in-tune with the machine, than some other SUVs. The F-PACE is the family car for those seeking performance and flavour in their drive.

At lower speeds, the F-PACE did occasionally feel a little busy over bumps and grooves in the road, which I put down to riding on 22-inch wheels. If you want a more dampened ride, I’d opt for either a 19-inch or maybe a 20-inch wheel for a dramatic difference from these 22’s.

Similar to what I experienced with the Land Rover Defender, this six-cylinder motor can be a little on the thirsty side. The claimed fuel efficiency is 8.7L/100km combined. In the city, I was seeing figures as high as 14L/100km, which led to me burning through half a tank of fuel in less than two days.

There’s been a dramatic overhaul in the name of quality and minimalism inside the Jag. Let’s start with the curved centre 11.4-inch touch display, which is certainly a statement piece. An ultra crispy, bright and well saturated display, it’s certainly a high quality display. The way Apple CarPlay is displayed generates a sense of satisfaction, as your phone’s display takes up all the screen real-estate unlike some other vehicles with larger infotainment displays. The infotainment’s UI is clean and easy to use, with an app layout that makes it simple to access an array of features. There are touch capacitive climate buttons below the screen, which I appreciate for their ability to reduce the number of buttons in the cabin. However, they have a tendency to be a little difficult to turn on and are a magnet for fingerprints. Some people will like these buttons, but for me, I wasn’t falling in love with this element of the cabin.

The Jaguar has a minimum boot space of 744L and a maximum boot space of 1804L. Rear seat comfort is experienced best on the outer seats, as they are bolstered and sunken into the rear bench for exceptional headroom, knee room and feet room. The middle seat suffers the most, with a very high transmission tunnel and raised seat, which makes it only suitable for small trips when carrying 5 people.

My only complaint about the long-term comfort was the pain I experienced with the embossed Jaguar logo in the front headrests! Anyone with short hair will feel this pouncing Jaguar logo rub against the back of your scalp, which creates a pain point for those who rest their head back on their seats.

Another issue for long-term comfort was the omission of heated seats and USB ports for the rear seats.

The USB issue can be sorted by purchasing a $15 12V adapter from Supercheap Auto, but the heated seats were sorely missed during the more harsh winter mornings. You would expect at this price point, these features would have been included.

The new F-PACE certainly represents the all-in-one family car. It can do it all, and more importantly, provide more than enough fun in the driving department.

I really do love this SUV, and would recommend it for those looking for a performance SUV, without the drama that AMG, SVR, M or even Audi’s S models can bring. It has 400hp, and is a little more conservative on fuel than more expensive performance V8 trims and rivals.

The P400 motor certainly is the highlight here, however you don’t necessarily need to opt for it if you don’t need all-out performance paired with your F-PACE. Diesel and four cylinder motor options for this SUV will allow you to save a little at the pump and leave more space in your wallet for additional options from that extensive list.

At the end of the day, the F-PACE has plenty of road presence, and is a fantastic example of a luxury performance SUV.

*Disclaimer - I work for ProductReview as their independent car and motorbike expert. I borrow new cars and motorbikes from manufacturers and owners to review. I am not paid or incentivised by these brands to post reviews. I write and create content to provide insight and information about any new or used vehicle I can get my hands on.

Excellent to drive, but battery efficiency needs improvement – As you’d hope from a Jaguar, the I-PACE is fantastically put together. The materials, lack of distinct panel gaps, trim pieces and screens are all… Read more

fitting when asking north of $150,000 for this EV.

This car is devoid of any squeaks, rattles and road noise, which is a very important trait in a silent EV.

My disappointment came in the form of electrical issues I experienced during my week with the I-PACE. For around 15 minutes, I was unable to interact with the digital climate controls and centre touchscreen - a slight problem on a particularly hot day.

Some cars I test have screens that might glitch, that a simple off/on can fix. However this persistent issue only resolved itself after some time, regardless of whether the car was turned off or on or was locked or unlocked.

I would have been pretty disappointed if this was my car and I was experiencing stereotypical Jaguar electrical issues less than 1000km into my ownership.

This trim of the Jaguar I-PACE will cost you $142,580 before on-road costs and incentives.

Our car was fitted with an enormous shopping list of options (all listed further down), including a panoramic glass roof ($3580), air suspension ($2002), and a Meridian Sound System ($1200). That brought the total price to $161,055.

The warranty is 5 years/unlimited kilometres, and high voltage parts are covered over 8 years/160,000km.

Your service intervals aren’t that different from a petrol car, occurring every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first. However, what is a bonus is that your servicing is complimentary over 5 years or 200,000km.

It’s one of the better offers alongside those of brands like Genesis.

The added sound deadening and high quality materials ensure that the cabin of the I-PACE is silent. You can just feel it in your ear holes that Jaguar required this car to be as silent as a big cat hunting at night.

Although, that does change when you head into Dynamic mode, which activates some sound to be played through the speakers to enhance the feeling of speed.

I would also mention that the speaker upgrade is a must, especially if you’ve already committed to paying this much for an EV. I loved the rich sound this system generated; it’s a great way to make the most of a silent sound stage like this.

To my surprise, Jaguar have tuned these brakes to erode any sensation that this car has a heavy battery pack on board.

Yes, you do notice this car's weight at times, but those beefy brakes don’t make a fuss when being stomped on some backroads.

This AWD setup places two electric motors between both front and rear axles. With the car producing a combined output of 294kW (400hp) and 696Nm, you’re going to hit 100km/h in a brief 4.8 seconds.

This car feels every way as quick as Jaguar claims. It’s rapid, it’s exhilarating and it’s also unassuming to most punters who are up for a drag race from the lights.

This is a brilliant amount of power that absolutely helps the Jaguar achieve one of the most important characteristics of the brand: pace.

As an EV, you only have one forward gear to engage with, so there’s nothing more to say than it’s a perfectly smooth experience.

What I really loved was the way you select your shift into gear, all done by pressing buttons along a ‘bridge’ that emerges from the centre console to meet the dashboard.

Incredibly, the I-PACE manages to offer one of the best electric car driving experiences alongside something like the Kia EV6.

What you have is the best handling and driving EV you can buy. The way Jaguar has dialled in the chassis, steering and suspension of this car makes it quick to react but also extremely comfortable in mundane situations.

Air suspension helps with lowering the car for more dynamic handling, along with the adaptive dynamics package ($2002) fitted to our test car. I really haven’t had this much fun driving an EV through corners before.

I loved the driving position, the way you sit in the car to maximise the feel of the vehicle. This EV 1000% deserves to wear the Jaguar badge, and just makes me excited to see where the brand takes this electric platform into the future.

A slight kicker to all this positive stuff is the energy consumption. Jaguar claims 27.9kWh per 100km, a big difference to other EVs that usually hang just below 20kWh per 100km in their claimed figures.

You have a claimed 446km (WLTP) range from a humongous 90kWh battery.

I didn’t have the chance to range test this car, but I did find the projected range to slightly overstate the actual range I achieved in city driving. Regenerative braking helps keep some range when driving around town, but it’s not enough to bring that consumption figure down dramatically.

It is a little annoying too that this battery can only accept up to 100kW of DC charge, when other EVs are entering the realm of up to 350kW for fast charging.

I’ve always loved the interior of this EV, as it’s a bespoke design that hasn’t just been lifted from Jaguar’s other cars.

The new Pivi Pro software is a fantastic improvement from older cars, including connected services like weather and incorporating Amazon’s Alexa as a voice assistant. Over-the-air updates are also available, which the company has already used in the past to bring customers upgrades like wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto without having to visit a dealership.

The layout of the drivers display is easy to read and customise, so you can have as much or as little information as you might need.

The way the screens in here are integrated is fairly impressive, apart from the climate control screen which feels a little out of place. Making up for that are the screens inside the climate control dials, which are multi-functional and help reduce the visual clutter here.

If you’re looking for the best EV money can buy, it’s not this Jaguar. You can spend less for better battery technology, but you're not getting the best car if you do that.

What this Jaguar is, is a fast, elegant, comfortable, ergonomic luxury car that just happens to be electric. The way Jaguar have implemented the EV drive train has been done so well that you genuinely have a product that feels class-leading in the way it drives and performs on the road.

I would love to see some progress in the battery technology department to improve range accuracy and efficiency, but other than that, I think the I-PACE is a worthy luxury EV deserving of your attention over what Audi and Mercedes-Benz have to offer at this moment.

*Disclaimer - I work for ProductReview as their independent car and motorbike expert. I borrow new cars and motorbikes from manufacturers and owners to review. I am not paid or incentivised by these brands to post reviews. I write and create content to provide insight and information about any new or used vehicle I can get my hands on.

Don't waste your money – My mother bought a Jaguar E pace, it has had constant trouble with the battery, because they say she doesn't drive it enough, when asked how long is… Read more

enough I never received a straight answer. Apparently this terrible car does not have an alternator it has a generator that takes a long time to actually generate anything. How impractical!!. Upon further reading this seems to be a problem with a few other Jaguar's so please save yourself the disappointment and anxiety and buy something that does not need to be trickled charged every other day.