2019 Jaguar F Pace UAE quick review

Jaguar has long been recognized as one of the premier luxury carmakers in the world. The British marque has been cutting it clean and well in the luxury department for several decades. However, what it didn’t offer was a compelling luxury crossover SUV for a market that clearly craves for more each day. Once the message hit home, Jaguar responded by unveiling its first-ever SUV offering in the form of the new F-Pace. The Jaguar F-Pace officially hit showroom floors in 2016, and it shares its platform with the XF sedan.

Despite not being the first luxury crossover in the market, the Jaguar F-Pace went on to become the best-selling model in the brand’s lineup. Still in its first generation since launch, the 2019 Jaguar F-Pace remains mostly the same and thus finds itself competing against some of the toughest in the segment such as the BMW X3, Mercedes-Benz GLC, Infiniti QX70, and Maserati Levante.

Exterior

While Jaguars are supposedly known for their exquisite design and endearing silhouette, it’s nothing like that with the F-Pace. Now, it’s definitely a neat and unflustered design, but the Jaguar F-Pace doesn’t quite grab one’s attention the way you’d think. While the front fascia looks adequately intimidating with its large, open-mouth grille accompanied by slick HID headlights, taut hood design, and a sporty bumper with multiple air intake vents, it simply doesn’t come across as aggressive or special. This same theme extends throughout the rest of F-Pace as the side profile looks modern and crisp with its suave 20-inch sports wheels, protruding wheel arches, and fender garnish, but it lacks any significant wow factor.

At the rear, the F-Pace gets a steeply-raked and small back window, sleek LED taillights, and an unassuming bumper with the ubiquitous twin-muffler setup. Overall, I think the F-Pace is a handsome SUV, but if it’s special that you’re after, I don’t think this one cuts it quite well. As for its dimensions, the 2019 Jaguar F-Pace stands 4.746 meters long, 2.070 meters wide, 1.693 meters tall, and boasts a 2.874-meter wheelbase. On the practicality front, the F-Pace houses a roomy 650-liter boot.

Interior

The interior layout and design of the 2019 Jaguar F-Pace is good, but not outstanding. It has its fair share of plush materials, supple leather seats, and there’s decent amount of room. However, there are scratchy bits of trim, uninspiring centre-dash design, and although the seats are supportive and comfortable, the rear can feel tight for three adults. Having said all that, the build quality and fit-and-finish are pretty good.

Jaguar does offer the F-Pace with plenty of kit, including adaptive headlights, electric tailgate, adaptive dampers, radar cruise control, rain-sensing wipers, power sunroof, leather upholstery, power front seats with heating and cooling function, ambient lighting, a 12.3-inch digital driver’s display, a 10.2-inch touch-infotainment system with navigation, and a premium Meridian sound system. Its safety tech encompasses 6 airbags, ABS with EBD and brake assist, traction and stability control, hill-descent control, all-around parking sensors with surround-view camera etc.

Engine and performance

The supercharged 3.0-liter V6 engine in the Jaguar F-Pace S produces 375 hp and 450 Nm of toque. It’s paired to an 8-speed torque-converter automatic and an all-wheel drive system which enables the 1.8-ton F-Pace to hit 100 km/h in 5.5 seconds, while top speed is capped at 250 km/h.

Verdict

The 2019 Jaguar F-Pace range costs between AED 196,200 to AED 313,500 for the basic Pure variant and fully-loaded S trim with the supercharged engine, respectively. Meanwhile, insurance starts at AED 3,058 for the former and AED 4,886 for the latter.