Setting The Pace

For a company that had never built anything remotely resembling an SUV, Jaguar sure hit the mark with the F-Pace. Would its smaller sibling be just as good?

We remember the exact moment we fell in love with the F-Pace. It was on a smooth gravel  road on the outskirts of Port Elizabeth, behind the wheel of the 3.0-litre turbocharged diesel.

While exiting the corner, we gave it some stick which resulted in pleasurable oversteer. A glance down revealed that we were still in ‘normal’ driving mode, so surely the stability control should have reacted to our silly driving antics?

Thinking we had found a flaw, we made a mental note to ask one of the chassis engineers who just happened to be on hand for the local launch.

“No,” he said. “It’s not a flaw. The normal driving mode allows for a bit of sideways action before it intervenes.”

How novel and fantastic is that? A car that doesn’t try to take the tedious task of driving away from you and actively encourages you to be part of the experience.

There’s a good reason the F-Pace want you to be part of the action. It has an advanced chassis and steering pulled straight from the F-Type sports car. It’s also rear-wheel drive and engages the front wheels only when it detects a loss of traction. That’s not how it’s done in most SUVs, which tend to be front-wheel drive, with a rear axle that engages if and when necessary. If you’re a keen driver, that kind of thing matters.

F-PACE ON A DIET

With all of the above in mind, we were expecting the E-Pace to be even better. It’s smaller, so it should be lighter. And a lighter vehicle means quicker acceleration, nimbler responses and, well, just more fun.

On paper at least, the E-Pace is an alluring SUV. It’s powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol, developing 221kW and 400Nm of torque. Throw in a nine-speed automatic and all-wheel drive and you’ve got a high-riding hot hatch.