Editor Walton Is Driven Around a Stage of the Wales Rally Gb in an F-pace 3.0 S to Performance Experience the Thrill of This Car’s Massive and Formidable Grip.
Jaguar’s Art of the Performance Tour visited several locations across the UK and Europe throughout 2016 (as it will during 2017) to allow existing Jaguar customers and future buyers to experience the company’s range. Although the XE, XF and F-TYPE were all available to be driven, the F-PACE took centre stage. As the SUV is a brand-new type of Jaguar, the company is keen to demonstrate what it is capable of, through both an on-road drive and then a high-speed lap of a rally course with a professional driver at the wheel.
I am invited to the tour’s final event of 2016, at Cholmondeley Castle in Cheshire.
Its grounds play host to a 1.8km stage of the Wales Rally GB, so it’s a genuine test for the car. I’m not sure this is what George James, the forth Earl of Cholmondeley, had in mind when he commissioned local architect William Turner of Whitchurch to design a small, gothic villa in 1801, but it’s a superb location.
After a road drive in a 2.0-litre diesel F-PACE, which reminds me of the car’s refinement, speed and good handling [see test drive JW, September 2016, p30], I return to Cholmondeley for a passenger ride around the rally stage – not in a humble 2.0-litre, or even the 3.0 diesel, but a top-of-the-range 3.0 S. With the same 380PS (275bhp) supercharged 3.0-litre V6 as the F-TYPE S, it offers an impressive performance for such a big car. Top speed is a limited 155mph, while 62mph is reached in just 5.5 seconds, a mere 0.4 slower than the F-TYPE S with AWD.
This story is from the March 2017 edition of Jaguar World Monthly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 2017 edition of Jaguar World Monthly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
The Old Way
With manufacture of the X351 XJ now finished, the F-TYPE takes over the mantle of Jaguar’s oldest production model. To discover more about the continuing allure of this six-year-old sports car, we drive a 380PS V6 convertible from Lincoln to Bath on the UK’s oldest road, the Fosse Way
Saving Jaguar
On the brink of the abyss in the early Eighties, Jaguar saw its fortunes turned around by a new chairman, John Egan. We meet up with him at the Jaguar Heritage Trust at Gaydon to talk about his strategies for the company’s recovery
Rolling road
A SNOWY February morning is not the ideal time to be taking out a pristine Jaguar E-type, and an early Series 1, flat-floor model at that. But my mate Bryan Smart has booked his in for a three hour session on a rolling road, and doesn’t want to miss the appointment. He’s not looking for more power – this car is standard, but it doesn’t idle as smoothly as it should. He’s not bad with spanners himself, but neither he nor a couple of specialists have been able to solve the issue.
Jaguar World's Technical Advice Service
E knock off
1966 E-Type Fixed Head Coupe
Trimmed and ready to be toned, Jim’s E-type Series 1 fixedhead returns home fromMCT Restorations
Favourite things
With a 300PS diesel engine and a lightweight, handsome body, the XF 3.0 TDV6 S could be the editor’s best-choice saloon of the current range. To discover if that’s true, he takes an example to a well-loved location of his, the Yorkshire Dales.
Jim Patten
MOT exemption
Time Warp
Carcoon will be 25 years old in 2018, so we meet the people behind the scenes to discover how the bubble idea came about
1984 XJ6 Series 3 4.2 Sovereign
Iain relays the joys and disappointments of buying an XJ6 Series 3 project car for our sister title, Classics Monthly
Family Ties
Despite the thirty years that separate the E-type 2+2 Series 1 from the XK8 they have many similarities – such as being fun and the added practicality of four seats to attract the family man. We test 4.2-litre versions of both cars back-to-back.
