Jaguar hasn’t quite attained Porsche-like levels of SUV sales with its recently introduced F-Pace, but it’s difficult not to imagine the brand’s luxury saloons and sports cars one day becoming a sideline to the seemingly limitless sales of what were once known as ‘soft-roaders’.
Exhibit A is 2016’s F-Pace sales tally, which at 63,519 accounted for almost 11 per cent of total 2016 sales for Jaguar Land Rover, and nearly 43 per cent of Jaguar sales alone. So this new car, the E-Pace, will surely tip the sales balance in favour of those tall, lumbering vehicles aimed at customers with ‘active lifestyles’.
To be fair to the E-Pace, it’s less tall and lumbering than many, if not quite the ‘Jaguar GTI’ you’ve seen splashed across other mags. It weighs over 1.8 tons for a start, making it more fat GIT than fab GTI, and it’s longer, wider and taller than the Range Rover Evoque with which it shares much of its engineering.
The styling does a reasonable job of hiding this size, with details borrowed from the F-type and a more curvaceous, less aggressive look than the larger F-Pace. Wheel sizes range from 17 to 21 inches, and on our test car’s 20s the E-Pace looks almost cartoonish from some angles, but it’s an attractive package.
Neat inside too, at least on first inspection. The overall design is similar to that of the F-type, right down to the shape of the gear selector and the steering wheel. But our car’s black cabin is about as cheerful as a White House press secretary trying to justify a Trump tweet, and some surfaces look unlikely to last much longer either.
Occasional use of probably-not-aluminium fails to lift the mood, and the leather wrapping the steering wheel appears to have come from a plastic cow. Some of it might be easier to forgive on an entry-level E-Pace, but just as top-end F-types don’t feel like £100k cars, topend E-Paces don’t feel like £50k ones.
Power comes from a range of Ingenium four-cylinder petrols and diesels, the most potent being this P300 version – shorthand for petrol, 300 PS (296bhp). With 295lb ft of torque, its outputs are identical to those of the four-cylinder F-type. Sadly, the E-Pace doesn’t get the coupe’s fruity exhaust, so you must suffer the Ingenium’s tedious drone.
With 62mph arriving in 6.4sec, there’s more than enough performance for most, and the nine-speed auto does an admirable job of smooth and swift cog-swapping, whether left in auto or activated using the fore-aft lever on the centre console (paddles are only available with the top, R-Dynamic trim level, which seems an oversight). Throttle response is keen at light inputs, giving the impression of quick reactions, something you can make the most of by nudging the car into Dynamic mode and popping the shifter across to Sport.
The chassis is the E-Pace’s strongest dynamic characteristic. The steering has quite keen self-centring allied to snappy off-centre response, so there’s a lively feel to even the smallest movements. There’s good turn-in grip too, and nice balance front-to-rear. Being tall, the E-Pace rolls onto its outside tyres harder than a conventional car, but there’s just enough feedback through the steering to relay the car’s behaviour.
Apply more power mid-corner, though, and you’ll mostly find scrubbing understeer, while lifting off the throttle tucks the nose in and no more. The ride? Not bad for a car on 20-inch wheels and 45-profile tyres, but it lacks the fluency of its conventional saloon siblings. You can sense Jaguar has played it safe with what is sure to become its biggest-selling model. It has developed an entirely unremarkable vehicle as a result.
Left: E-Pace bigger than the Evoque on which it’s based, but doesn’t look bulky.
Below: cabin is neat but underwhelming, especially for £45k.
TECHNICAL DATA FILE SPECIFICATION 2018 Jaguar E-Pace P300 AWD R-Dynamic
Engine In-line 4-cyl, 1998cc, turbo
Power 296bhp @ 5500rpm / DIN
Torque 295lb ft @ 1200-4500rpm / DIN
0-62mph 6.4sec (claimed)
Top speed 151mph (claimed)
Weight 1894kg (159bhp/ton)
Basic price £45,660
+ Steering response; grip; balance
– Drab cabin; dreary engine; inevitable ubiquity
Drive-My rating 3+
