Is 2021 Jaguar F-Pace Better than its Opposition?

Jaguar 2021 F-Pace SE D300 R-Dynamic AWD Review

Like other modern Jaguars, F-Pace has undergone a few nip-and-tucks to keep it current, including a stunning new cabin, and sexy LED lighting outside.

If you think an Audi, BMW, Mercedes or any other medium-to-large SUV is better, try driving them side-by-side..

GET BROCHURE and FULL SPECS HERE: 22MY_Jaguar F-PACE_Spec Guide

First, there is the delicious exterior.

The 2021 Jaguar F-Pace has new lighting, and if you want to tick even more boxes, there is a Matrix LED option. It should be standard, but alas. For a demo on how this stunning night display works, and just why it is so important, see our F-Pace VIDEO Review below.

The bonnet is lower, and the headlights sleeker. Tail lights have taken on a narrower look, with a squared-off motif replacing the semi-circles it had at launch. The grille is larger, and there are new bumpers.

20” wheels, once rare, are now commonplace. In black, they’ve finished off the ensemble a fine Swiss watch with a tux.

Other than that, unless you see the two side by side, you’ll be hard pressed to spot the new car.

Above: This Week – 2021 Jaguar F Pace D300 AWD Review

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ABOVE: 2021 Jaguar F-Pace

GET BROCHURE and FULL SPECS HERE: 22MY_Jaguar F-PACE_Spec Guide

F-Pace Cabin is completely new

If the old cabin was lux and luscious, the new, moody, brooding, design is somehow more comforting. It looks like a concept drawing that actually made it to production.

Optional darkened rear glass makes the back a place VIPs will feel even more special, but a Jaguar is about driving, fast, so the front is where you want to be. Jaguar F-Pace has all the space, grace, and pace that Sir William Lyons would have wanted.

Lashing of leather, and optional heating/cooling/massage make the front pews feel more like a spa-retreat than a luxury conveyance.

Bolsters can hug you as tight as you like, with 18-way powered memories to put you in touch with every single control without having to turn a hair. OK, so far that isn’t something that can’t be had elsewhere. Even the engineered wood trim isn’t that unusual. Moody ambient lighting makes night trips rather sexy too, but still not unusual. It is the sum of the parts where F-Pace pulls ahead.

This makeover transformed Jaguar F-Pace into a thoroughly modern wagon, with no compromises required.

The centre console has had a magic wand waved over it, and is wider and less cluttered. It is topped by a 11.4” tablet, and the rotary gear selector has been banished, replaced by a leather-clad t-bar-style affair. The lock button is on the front face and we found it a bit hard to get used to. No push, no change, and in a kerfuffle, that can be a problem.

The steering wheel has a smooth new look, with black controls that only come alive when the backlighting comes on. They’ve been shifted around to suit the new Jaguar standard layout. Smart cruise is standard, as is smart lane control.

Beside the shifter is the drive mode control. A push allows it to raise up to then be given a twist into something sportier. Dynamic mode makes the active suspension firm up, and the steering harder. The gearbox stands to attention, and the engine gets all gets all bossy-boots.

Even at speed, the cabin is whisper-quiet thanks to excellent sound-proofing and brilliant Active Noise Cancelling. The ANC plays the opposite waves through the speakers to dampen the unwanted bluster. It doesn’t work against nagging, just sayin.

GET BROCHURE and FULL SPECS HERE: 22MY_Jaguar F-PACE_Spec Guide

The Drive is sublime

650Nm of torque is a shedload, in anyone’s language. 221kw is a great cruiser, chewing up the highway like a kid at a candy buffet.

Electric steering is as it is in most posh cars, and brakes are nice and sharp. There is a suite of safety gear doing all the hard stuff, because that is all required for a 5-star ANCAP rating.

Seating is like a gent’s club, and the atmosphere can only be described as genteel and calm. It is properly posh, a word I’ll be using again and again.

At low speeds, the turbo takes a minute to get its $hit together, but when it does, you get a wonderfully butch blast of pure testosterone. A 6.4 0-100 sprint is good for any car, but in one weighing in at a portly 2083kg, is astounding.

On a trip, you can spread out a bit and enjoy the stunning sound from the (optional $1560) Meridian sound setup.

Jaguar is a joyous, blissful experience. Perhaps it is the noise cancelling, or just good design, but outside stays outside, and the climate control filters air to further rarefy the already gracious atmosphere.

We have curtailed the longer drives. Covid saw to that, but a few hours each way is dispatched with the grace of Princess Di, the agility of a mountain goat, and the zen of a secret Japanese Bonsai garden.

And, when you get to your well-deserved weekend away, you can park with the confidence of a sensational 360° view camera system.

One last comment before we finish, and that is this: My tension melted away after a few hours in this cathedral of calm. That is something money can’t buy.

GET BROCHURE and FULL SPECS HERE: 22MY_Jaguar F-PACE_Spec Guide

Conclusion:

F-Pace sells so few when compared to BMW X5 and Mercedes GLE, but is better looking than either of those, and much easier to live with. Audi’s Q5 comes close, and of course there are SUV offerings from Range Rover and Land Rover. It remains a mystery as to why Jaguar struggles in the Australian market.

I’d like the Matrix LED lights and HUD to be standard. To be otherwise seems miserly when it comes standard in SUVs costing thousands less.

Price: $95,566
Engine: 3.0L straight 6, Turbo Diesel
Power: 221kw/650Nm
Econ: 7.0L/100k
Trans: 8-speed auto
Weight: 2083kg
0-100kph: 6.4sec
Towing: 2400kg
Warranty: 5 year inc roadside assist
Servicing: 5yr/130,000 capped at $2650

Options:

Pixel LED + Signature + Adaptive Driving Beam h/Lamps	$4,784
Sliding Panoramic Roof	$4,420
18-Way Driver & Passenger Memory Heated &Ventilated Massage seats	$3,094
Technology Pack – Solar Attenuating Windscreen – Wireless Device Charging – Head-up Display	$2,480
Meridian Sound System – 400W w/- 13 speakers incl. Subwoofer + Active Road Noise Cancellation	$1,560
Privacy Glass	$950
Red Brake Calipers	$806
Veneer-Engineered Wood	$416
Light Oyster Morzine Headlining	–
Price-As-Tested:	$114,076