If ever there was an SUV that would lend itself well to being transformed into a bona fide performance vehicle, the Jaguar F-Pace is it. This car is built on a platform shared with the XF saloon, remember. Moreover, the standard model is already one of the most handsome examples of the breed out there, so it’s unsurprising to find that the SVR version also cuts a particularly fine shape.
What is interesting to note, however, is that this latest SVR-badged model – the third to emerge from Jaguar Land Rover’s in-house tuning skunkworks – doesn’t seem to shout about its performance credentials quite so loudly as some of its rivals. Aside from larger 21in alloy wheels (with optional 22s on our test car), the quad tailpipes of the lightweight active exhaust system and some reasonably reserved aero and cooling-related bodywork tweaks, the F-Pace SVR isn’t drastically different from the standard car. Next to the wide-boy Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 and even the Stelvio Quadrifoglio, the Jaguar could almost be called reserved. Exceptionally good-looking and suitably purposeful, yes, but nowhere near as outlandish as those rivals.
That said, there’s nothing reserved about the F-Pace SVR’s engine. It’s the same 5.0-litre supercharged V8 you’ll find at the nose of the Range Rover Sport SVR and Jaguar F-Type SVR, albeit in a slightly different state of tune. Where those cars both develop 567bhp and 516lb ft, the F-Pace SVR makes do with ‘just’ 542bhp between 6000 and 6500rpm, while its 502lb ft is spread between 2500 and 5500rpm. This is delivered to all four wheels by an eight-speed automatic transmission.
