What_Car_UK_-_August_2020

whatcar.com August 2020 79

HERE’S A PREDICAMENT for you

to ponder. You’ve been shopping

for a posh SUV with a budget of

around £40,000, but you’re bored

with Audi, BMW and Mercedes-

Benz and fancy something from

closer to home. Land Rovers are a

bit obvious, so you’ve ended up in

a Jaguar showroom.

On your left-hand side is the

E-Pace, a family SUV that shares

its underpinnings with the Range

Rover Evoque and comes with

a range of four-cylinder petrol

and diesel engines. To your right

is the F-Pace, a large SUV that’s

related to the Range Rover Velar

and is available with anything

from a sensible diesel right up to a

monstrous supercharged V8 with

more than 500bhp.

In this case, it’s the popular

2.0-litre D180 diesel, connected to

an automatic gearbox and four-

wheel drive, that has piqued your

interest in both cars, and you’re

lookingatthecheapertrims.The

question is, do you save yourself

some cash and opt for the smaller

E-Pace, or push your budget a bit

more and pick the F-Pace?

DRIVING

Performance, ride,

handling, re nement

Although the E-Pace is the smaller

of our pair, it weighs much the

same as the F-Pace. The result is

that both take a disappointing

9.2sec to sprint from 0-60mph –

some way off what similarly

powered rivals can achieve.

The F-Pace is actually slightly

swifter when overtaking slower-

moving traffi c or getting up to

motorway speed on a short slip

road. Even so, their performance

is adequate at best, not helped

by automatic gearboxes in both

(particularly the E-Pace) that

hesitate before responding to

presses of the accelerator.

GiventhatJaguarmadeits

name building sports saloons and

sports cars, you’d hope that some

of that same character would

be present in its SUVs. And it is.

Both cars have meaty, precise and

feelsome steering and keep body

lean well contained in corners. But

while the E-Pace feels reasonably

agile, the F-Pace is on another level

for handling, scything through

bends eagerly and displaying

superior balance and grip.

Neither car has a particularly

comfortable ride, though. The

F-Pace is no boneshaker, but

you’re very aware of surface

imperfections, especially around

town. The E-Pace, on the other

hand, is just too stiff. It jiggles

around over most surfaces, while

your head is tossed from side to

side along uneven roads.

The engine isn’t particularly

quiet in either car; you’ll notice

it thrumming away in the

background at tickover and

gettingrathercoarseunderhard

acceleration. You’ll hear some

wind and road noise at motorway

speeds in these cars, too; in both

cases, several rivals are quieter.

BEHIND THE WHEEL

Driving position, visibility,

build quality

You’ll sit high in whichever one

you choose, with the E-Pace having

a more upright driving position,

whereas the F-Pace allows you

to stretch out more. Both come

with electric seat adjustment, but

you’ll need to spend an extra £795

in the E-Pace to get adjustable

lumbar support and memory

settings bundled together. Both

are standard on the F-Pace.

None of our testers had issues

with the amount of seat and

steering wheel adjustment, and

heated front seats are standard.

Both get a 10.0in touchscreen

infotainment system as standard

thatlooksprettysharpbutcan

JAGUARE-PACE

JAGUARF-PACE

BEST TO

DRIVE

Jaguar F-Pace 2.0 D180 AWD R-Sport

List price £44,105 Target Price £41,335

Bigger than the E-Pace but has the

same engine; is it worththeextra?

E-Pace tends to  dget even on seemingly smooth roads. At least it’s agile in corners

F-Pace is  rm as well, although it’s more comfortable and even more fun in corners

Jaguar E-Pace vs Jaguar F-Pace

Jaguar E-Pace

Jaguar F-Pace

 Standard  Not available Alloy

wheel

size

Panoramic

roof

Parking

sensors

front/rear

Heated

windscreen

Heated seats

front/rear

Keyless

entry

Adaptive

cruise

control

Apple

CarPlay/

Android Auto

Surround-

view

camera

Electric

tailgate

Adjustable

lumbar

support

Metallic

paint

EQUIPMENT

*Comes with 14-way electric seats with memory **Part of Drive Pack ***Part of Cold Climate Pack



£775***

/£310

/£450

/

/

£420



£670

19in £740

£795*



£780

£1375**

£315

£1010

£535

£555

/

/

£990

£1275

18in

UPSIZE