2018 Jaguar F-Pace 25t: Big cat, small heart, more power (with a small driving comparison with it's sibling)!

The all-new Jaguar F-Pace, well, it's not really a new car, is essentially a luxury compact sports SUV that people might forgotten. It was previously launched two years ago with a sticker price of merely RM 598,800 to RM 658,800 from the base model to the top-of-the-range model. Both of them had a 3 litre supercharged V6, and not many people seemed to go for them due to the roadtax price, and there was a good alternative for this big cat such as the Porsche Macan S, due to the fact that it has better performance and a cheaper than the F-Pace.

As of this month, Jaguar Land Rover Malaysia finally decided to bring the F-Pace 25t with an affordable roadtax price with their in-house built two litre turbocharged 4-cylinder Ingenium engine. Pricing starts from RM 425,800 for the Prestige, RM 476,800 for the R-Sport Mid-Spec, and RM 498,000 for the fully-gizmo'd R-Sport Hi-Spec.

The F-Pace is actually one of the first Jaguar SUV in their brand, and there's gonna be another two SUVs in the Jaguar family, namely the E-Pace and the I-Pace. The F-Pace is also based on the Jaguar Land Rover iQ modular platform, specifically used in the XF, XE, and the Range Rover Velar. One of the most fun fact of the F-Pace is that it carries 80% of aluminium to the main body frame to provide a better 50:50 weight distribution with better ride and handling. 

By looking at the outside, the F-Pace is beautifully sculpted with all the smooth lines from the front to the back. Thanks to the body styling cues, the F-Pace gets a great aerodynamic performance as low as Cd 0.34 for the drag coefficient. Starting from the front, it comes with a full LED headlamps and a huge mesh grille which is already one of their traditions in terms of styling. The side profile does seem to attract my attention due to its semi-muscular look. As for the wheels, it gets a standard 18" 15-spoke alloys in the Prestige, and 20" Templar 5-twin-spoke alloys for both R-Sport Mid-Spec and Hi-Spec. Power tailgate is also available in the F-Pace with a decent amount of trunk space, which is way enough for daily storage in the city or outside.

Jaguar F-Pace R-Sport Mid-Spec

As for the fully-premium R-Sport Hi-Spec, some features that are not found in the two model trims are thrown in, such as 360-degree Surround Camera System, Adaptive Cruise Control as well as Autonomous Emergency Braking.

Similarly to the Range Rover Velar, the F-Pace gets a 2 litre turbocharged 4-banger Ingenium engine. It produces 250 hp at 5,500 rpm and 365 Nm of torque at 1,200 rpm. Power is sent to all four wheels and paired with a ZF 8-speed automatic transmission to provide better performance and fuel economy. It also comes with Configurable Dynamics which alters the powertrain performance and steering feel to suit the driver's driving needs. Torque Vectoring is also available in all trim levels to reduce body roll and understeer in high speed cornering.

Just like the rest of the Jaguars, the F-Pace gets the cocoon-lounge-style interior to fulfill the elegance appearance for this SUV. The dashboard design creates a sporty appearance as well as the center console with a fully stitched leather across them. The buttons are not cluttered and well-proportioned, which I always prefer in most sports cars. It also gets a dual-zone climate control, a 10-way power driver seat with memory (14 on the R-Sport), a 380 W Meridian Audio System with 11 speakers along with 8" InControl Touch infotainment system. A 10.2" InControl Touch Pro system is an exclusive to the R-Sport variants, in an addition to the 12.3" digital dash and a full panoramic sunroof.

Some people questioning about the build quality of the interior whereby they kinda disapprove the feel of the dashboard and the door panels. But to my experience, I don't have any major complaints about it and I feel that they were pretty soft and smooth. Yep, there is a little number of hard plastic at the door panels, but I tend to ignore it due to its design. Best of all, you can even see the 'Jaguar' name in every air vents, and that's what I called attention to details.

Moving to the back seats, it has a pretty good amount of leg space and headroom despite having a short roofline. The back seats is power-adjusted and can be reclined with the buttons on both sides of the seats. 

And that is all you need to know about the Jaguar F-Pace 25t. Since I had test driven both F-Pace and the Velar, I would like to make a comparison drive between them here.

In theory, most people claimed that the Velar and the F-Pace are the same car. I do agree on that, but they both actually different. Based on my analysis, the F-Pace is more of a sporty-oriented luxury SUV while the Velar is more of an all-in-one luxury SUV as it has a better off-road capability. The F-Pace feels like a manual razorblade in terms of driving feel. This statement can be applied as the suspension system is a little stiffer than that of the Velar. It can be a bad thing to most people, but I like that solid feel when it comes to driving, and I bet most car enthusiasts like it. With a hard tuned suspension, I can sense the steering feel accurately compared to the comfort-ish feel that is found on the Velar. The Velar's steering feedback is also great, although with an absence of hard feeling on the road surface, but it's not as horrible as the artificial ones in BMWs. Meanwhile, accelerating these two luxury behemoths are really quick and rapid thanks to the turbocharged 4-pot engine. Hitting a century sprint for just about 6.8 seconds, while the Velar is just 0.1 faster due to the design. In Dynamic mode, both cars do have a similar handling when it comes to sharp corners with a help of Torque Vectoring. 

Final Verdict

In a nutshell, the F-Pace 25t has its own unique theme when it comes to a luxury SUV. It is meant to be a sports-oriented vehicle and it's a head turner for SUV buyers, as the Velar is meant for pure luxury and a true off-roader. To make it easier, it's a Jaguar, and it's meant to be sporty all day.

For those who purchase the all-new Jaguar F-Pace 25t, you will get a 5-year warranty, a 5-year free service, and a 3-year roadside assistance program. 

*Special thanks to Jaguar Land Rover of Sime Darby Auto Connexion for letting me review and test drive the all-new Jaguar F-Pace 25t!