The Jaguar F-PACE sets a new standard for beauty in luxury SUVs

So how does the F-PACE drive — and what’s the verdict?

Hollis Johnson

Our tester came with a 3.0-liter supercharged V6, making 380 horsepower. That’s plenty of pump, and coupled with the eight-speed gearbox, it yields joyful driving when there’s joy to be had. The 0-60 mph sprint happens in just over five seconds and it has a top speed of 155 mph.

It’s also loaded with driver-assist wizardry, such as lane-keep warnings and adaptive cruise control. (I liked driving the F-PACE so much that I didn’t use these very much, even with a few hundred miles on the program.)

Some folks may wish for a bit more oomph from the motor. Membership in the 400-hp club can matter, but if more ponies is what you seek, you can check out Jag’s stablemate, Range Rover. Personally, the highly capable torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive system gave me all the grip I needed when I needed it, while at the same time piping the power to the rear wheels often enough that I didn’t want for more grunt.

Late last year, Jaguar allowed Business Insider’s Benjamin Zhang to take a different F-PACE test car out on a mildly-challenging off road course. The Jag proved to be surprisingly competent on rough terrain with its advanced all-wheel-drive system providing solid traction and good feel.

The F-PACE’s looks get even more suave and sexy at speed. This cat was made to move. There’s a lot of lightweight aluminum in the chassis, and that helps, but it doesn’t compromise the SUV’s solid feel.

Is it too flashy for the ‘burbs? Maybe. We pulled into Litchfield, CT on a Sunday in late fall and exuded a whiff more rock star than the town might generally endorse. But that could be a good thing for Jag, a brand that wants to grow to compete better with Lexus, BMW, Mercedes, and Audi. Jaguar vehicles are arguably better-looking than anything those stalwart luxury names sell — the only true aesthetic foe the F-PACE has is the Maserati Levante and maybe the Porsche Cayenne on a good day — and such factors could attract a younger, affluent buyership to the cat.

Ultimately, the F-PACE is perhaps the finest debut in the segment since the daddy of them all, the Cayenne. The Cayenne ultimately proved that brands with high-performance in their veins could construct compelling people-haulers.

But truthfully, I’d say the F-PACE is better. The Cayenne has been for some time the finest SUV built by human hands on planet Earth. But F-PACE could give it a run for its money.