2020 Jaguar Range
2020 Jaguar F-Pace SVR
To start off with, how cool is it that an SUV has been given the SVR treatment by Jaguar!
The F-Pace SVR is powered by a 5.0L Supercharged V8 making 405kW’s of power at 6500rpm and 680Nm of torque between 2500rpm and 5500rpm, that is an extremely healthy and playful powerband. The SVR also manages a 0-100 time of 4.3 seconds (quoted) and an overall top speed of 283kph through its 8-speed sports automatic gearbox paired with the All Wheel Drive system that the SVR’s are known for.
Specs however are one thing, actually getting out and driving the car is another.
Around town before reaching the Royal National Park the F-Pace is a very compliant and torquey ride, the power delivery is very smooth and it won’t really just take off unless you want it to, signalled by putting your foot down to the floor of course. You can turn the exhaust button on without being in Dynamic mode which gives just those little extra burbles from the rear when lifting off the throttle and allows you and others around to hear the brilliance that is the V8 Supercharged motor just that little bit more.
So for a daily id say it’d be extremely easy to live with, plenty of room, not too large (for modern standards), plenty of power on tap, and a roaring V8 sound when you want it, if you don’t simply turn the exhaust off and its really quite a quiet ride considering its an SVR.
Now for the fun part, arriving in to the Royal National Park, Dynamic Mode was of course turned on, engaging the paddle shifters if I was to choose to use them, which of course I did, but having the option there is a nice touch. Dynamic Mode lights up the speedometer in red (like pictured below) and if left in automatic mode lets the car rev out more freely than when not in Dynamic Mode.
The exhaust note when the valves are set to open and when the car is in Dynamic Mode is loud! the car really sounds like a roaring animal with the performance to match, put your foot down in any gear and it just pulls, thanks to that wide torque powerband. While in this mode you can also hear a lot of the Supercharger whine when opening the car up and if you are to lift off the throttle after revving the SVR out a little bit it’ll give you some nice pops and crackles to enjoy, amplified by the rocks walls along the twisty roads. I will mention though, the pops and crackles are not in excess, the F-Pace SVR doesn’t tend to pop and crackle as much as its F-Type brethren, you’ll have to try and make it pop and crackle more so than in the F-Type, which happily pops and crackles all day long when the exhaust valves are open. I’d say a reason for this could be that the F-Pace is still an SUV after all and isn’t Jaguar’s signature sports car like the F-Type is, therefore making the F-Pace SVR just that little bit more mature and daily-friendly, even in Dynamic Mode. Its an odd feeling sitting up high in the F-Pace and having all the sounds and power of an F-Type, its really a surreal experience, well worth giving it a go yourself.
The interior too has been nicely done, with the spec I was driving, it had red SVR imprinted bucket style seats, red seatbelts and of course SVR on the speedometer to remind you you’re driving something special (if that V8 roar wasn’t enough to remind you that is).
All in all I highly rate the F-Pace SVR as a daily friendly sports SUV with the power and sound to get out and have fun on the weekends, if you could only afford one car that will do it all, its hard to get past this brand new model in the SVR family, not to mention its priced very competitively also, with a starting price of around $155,000 AUD.
2020 Jaguar XF Sportbrake
When first stepping foot in to this Jaguar I called it a ‘wagon’, but was very quickly corrected to it being called a Sportbrake, I guess the word wagon doesn’t really ooze sportiness, so I get it.
The brand new XF Sportbrake that I was driving, had a twin-turbo powered V6 diesel engine that sends 221kW’s at 4000rpm and 700Nm of torque at low as 2000rpm to the rear wheels, giving it more torque than the F-Pace SVR, but doesn’t cover the whole powerband like the F-Pace does. The XF Sportbrake reaches 100kph from a standstill in 6.6 seconds and has a top speed of 250kph.
Behind the wheel of the XF Sportbrake is quite fascinating, the steering is just perfected like it was in the SVR, the way the whole long body of the car rotates seamlessly is hard to actually fathom and it does all this almost without making a noise. You really don’t hear very much engine noise at all in the XF, even in Dynamic Mode all you can hear is a slight whistle from the turbos doing their thing, other than that you may think its even electric its that quiet and not to mention ultra smooth when delivering its power., you’ll look down at the speedometer and not even realise that you were going as fast as it reads.
I was able to drive this car both on the highways and the twisty roads.
On the highways the XF Sportbrake has so much torque that its just so easy to drive, get up to speed and of course maintain it. The comfort levels are up there with the best of them, with the engine being so quiet and the tyres not making too much noise you can really just relax and listen to your music, this would be perfect for road trips!
On the twisty roads there wasn’t much to listen to as previously mentioned, so it was a chance for me to really feel the performance of the car, the steering and weight transfer around each corner is sublime, especially for a car of its size, it was extremely confidence inspiring thus again making this another Jaguar that could happily do it all (just without the loud noises).
The boot space on the Sportbrake is insanely large, you could fit pretty much all you can think of in the back of this.
I’d say the XF Sportbrake surprised me the most out of all the Jaguars’ I drove. This was a very welcome, yet unexpected surprise. If I was to chose this car for one purpose, i'd say it’d be the best road trip Jaguar, able to take any style of road without any issue and being behind the wheel is just a delight so it wouldn’t bother me being there for hours at a time while on a road trip.
2020 Jaguar XE P300 R-Dynamic
Since my dad owns a 2016 Jaguar XE 25T I was able to compare both the new and old to a certain extent.
The Jaguar XE P300 R-Dynamic was only officially launched in Australia a week before I got behind the wheel (same goes for the F-Pace SVR and XF Sportbrake), so that in itself I found pretty special with me being an aspiring automotive journalist and all.
The XE P300 R-Dynamic boasts a revised 2.0L turbo charged engine (no longer having a V6 available in the range) making 221kW’s of power at 5500rpm and 400Nm of torque between 1500rpm and 4500rpm all being delivered through the rear wheels. The new engine enables the XE to get from 0-100kph in a respectful 6.5 seconds and has a maximum speed of 250kph, which is the same as the XF Sportbrake. The gearbox is also the same 8-speed sports automatic with paddle shifters used on the other Jaguar models.
This particular car I got to drive after we'd all had lunch down at the Headland Hotel, therefore I got the lucky end of the stick, getting to drive it across Sea Cliff Bridge and then up through the first half of the Royal National Park. While driving the XE in normal mode, I found that the turbo lag wasn’t as noticeable as it was in the previous generation, it was still there however since when you put your foot down the car has to downshift and then accelerate causing the feeling of turbo lag. Putting the XE over in to Dynamic Mode and using the paddle shifters while going up through the twisties made the car feel a lot more responsive with close to zero lag. Using the cars superb chassis balance, incredible steering rack and wide torque powerband I was able to leave most of the group that was behind me in the dust, so to speak.
I can’t quite stress enough how fantastic this car is as a whole package, as far as 4-door sports saloons go, I think you’d be hard pressed to beat it when it comes to outright performance and chassis. The one pet peeve I have about the XE P300 (I had it about the last model too) is that it needs some sort of pop and crackle exhaust sounds when in Dynamic Mode, I think it would just heighten the experience just that little bit extra and give it a more playful nature when in the Dynamic driving mode.
Comparing it to the previous generation of XE, I’d say its rather similar on the day-to-day basis, only noticing the extra power mainly in the mid to top end of the rev range. The steering feels that little bit sharper with a more communicative front end when cornering. As far as performance goes it is certainly a step forward for the XE model.
Its worth mentioning too that the speedometer is now completely digital, the centre console now only has 1 button, that being the hazard button, the rest of the area is all touch screen for everything else; navigation, a/c, music etc and the XE finally has sequential indicators at the rear making it appear even more up-to-date.
This new XE P300 R-Dynamic would have to be my pick for a saloon in the current market . Adding some attitude to the exhaust would be my only request I can think of at this moment.
2020 Jaguar F-Type P380 R-Dynamic
Getting into the F-Type was what I’d been waiting for the entire day, so to finish the day with it was fantastic, and believe it or not, but I actually prefer the V6S F-Type more than the V8S.
The F-Type P380 R-Dynamic produces a healthy 280kW’s at 6500rpm and 460Nm of torque between 3500rpm and 5500rpm, making it another Jaguar with a very usable and wide powerband thanks to forced induction. This V6 Supercharged variant can hit 0-100kph in a swift 4.9 seconds through its 8-speed quickshift (sports automatic) gearbox sending all of the power to the rear wheels.
Now, you may ask why I prefer the V6S model of the F-Type over the V8S model and there are a few reasons why. Firstly, I think the V6S motor makes just the right amount of power for it to be still revved out on the streets and not at all ever feel underpowered, whereas the V8S I’ve driven before needed abit more patience and control to get the most out of it, otherwise it’d seriously bite back. Secondly, I find the sound of a V6S engine just that little more appealing, but that is all down to personal preference obviously, since both the V6S and V8S F-Types’ clearly make some of the best noises on the planet. Thirdly, I like how the V6S model pays homage to the original E-Type with its dual centre mounted exhaust pipes.
Getting in behind the wheel of the F-Type was something special, it feels like you are literally driving history reimagined. Everything meshed together so very well; the gearbox was instantaneous, the power was always their ready to go, the sound was just a constant eargasm to put it bluntly with the exhaust constantly popping and crackling on deceleration, the steering was just as precise as the other Jaguar models from the day which is a major thumbs up since Jaguar has nailed the electronic steering rack in my personal opinion.
Since the F-Type was an automatic it had no trouble once out of the National Park and into Sydney peak hour traffic. If you didn’t need more than 2 seats the F-Type would again be an all-rounder to use on the daily basis, since it is very comfortable and not too low, comfortable sport seats and has firm yet very compliant suspension that could easily be managed on the day-to-day basis.
The F-Type however would be better off being a weekend car to enjoy on special occasions, because being behind the wheel feels like an occasion in itself and you wouldn’t want to waste that in bumper-to-bumper traffic. I believe it’d honestly be my pick out of all the cars out there for driving the Royal National Park in, I just couldn’t fault the car for the things that I deem important in a sports car.
The F-Type was my pick of the day, since sports cars are my personal niche and this car was just one that I didn’t want to get out of.
At the start of the day performance was the word to remember, and that wasn’t a lie. Performance is clearly noticeable in each of the Jaguar models and not just reserved for the sports cars. I think down the line if i’m ever lucky enough, Jaguar may have a new customer.
If you haven't yet read about my Art of Performance Tour drive day event experience, click here.