FRANKFURT MOTOR SHOW: Jaguar F-PACE to deliver up to 280kW

After myriad teasers, Jaguar has at last stripped the sheets off its first-ever SUV, the F-PACE.

With styling heavily influenced by C-X17 concept as well as the F-TYPE sportscar, the five-seat F-PACE is billed as a ‘performance cross-over’, and as such will compete with the likes of Audi’s Q5 and Porsche’s Macan for dynamic medium SUV honours.

Due in Australia in the third quarter of 2016 (“Most likely August,” said James Scrimshaw, Senior PR Executive at Jaguar Land Rover Australia), the Australian F-PACE range will be exclusively all-wheel drive.

The vehicle adapts the torque-on-demand AWD system already seen in the F-TYPE.

There will be five initial variants for Australia, with the entry-level F-PACE Prestige followed by Portfolio, R-Sport, S and First Edition models.

“There’s also a base model Pure with available manual built for Euro markets, that won’t be coming here [to Australia],” explained Scrimshaw.

“The first edition will be available with a comprehensive spec and in the launch colours -- Halcyon gold and Caesium blue -- and will be for sale in for the first 12 months of production,” he added.

F-PACE offers a choice of two turbo-diesel and two supercharged petrol engines for the Australian market. The 132kW/430Nm, 2.0-litre, four-cylinder Ingenium turbo-diesel opens the range and promises 4.9L/100km and 139g/km of CO2. There’s also a larger 220kW 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 that produces 700Nm of torque.

Opt for petrol propulsion and your options are 250kW/450Nm or 280kW/450Nm versions of the supercharged 3.0-litre V6 as seen in the F-TYPE; the latter promises acceleration to 100km/h in only 5.5sec.

As for a V8 in the future?

“We’ve been asked a lot about that, but there’s no news on that front as yet,” said Scrimshaw.

An eight-speed automatic transmission will be offered across the range.

The rear-biased all-wheel drive system, developed by the same team who worked on the F-TYPE system, can react to requirements in less than 165ms.

At the unveiling this evening in Frankfurt, F-PACE Program Director Andy Whyman displayed graphics that depicted a split range from 10:90 front:rear through 50:50 to 90:10, depending on the situation.

The chain driven transfer case adds only 8kg and is “ten per cent more efficient,” according to Whyman.

“The aim with this system is to eliminate initial understeer... Steering response [via the electrically-assisted power steering system] is paramount as it is in every Jaguar,” he continued.

Torque vectoring assists further in delivering that crisp initial response, he contends.

Beyond the drivelines, Jaguar has endowed the F-PACE with a suite of advanced dynamic technologies to further match it with the established performance SUV players.

Whyman himself noted the “Porsche Macan as the dynamic benchmark.”

Despite retaining a class-leading 213mm of ground clearance across the range and “being capable of towing around 2.4 tonnes,” according to Scrimshaw, the F-PACE promises cornering prowess.

There’s 50:50 weight distribution and F-TYPE-derived front suspension that offers 50 per cent more lateral stiffness than the Macan. Interestingly, the front axle also offers 33 per cent greater compliance then the Porsche. The rear axle is also 35 per cent stiffer.

Monotube dampers are standard fare, but opt for the Adaptive Dynamics suspension and the damping is continuously varied, based on inputs from 18 vehicle systems. Wheel movement is examined up to 500 times per second, with body changes checked 100 times per second.

There are three modes in the Land Rover-style Adaptive Surface Response system and Jaguar’s incredible All Surface Progress Control, which automatically gets the vehicle out of sticky situations by individually pulsing the drive wheels, leaving the driver only to steer.

The 4731mm long, 2874mm wheelbase F-PACE is built on Jaguar’s latest Lightweight Aluminium Architecture, which is constructed of 80 per cent aluminium alloy to ensure strength and stiffness.

One third of the aluminium is made from recycled materials and Jaguar says it will push that mark towards 75 per cent by 2020. The lightest, Ingenium-powered F-PACE weighs 1775kg.

Externally the strong C-X17 cues are evident in the narrow, full-LED headlights, bold grille and imposing 22-inch alloy wheels. There’s also a strong character reference to the F-TYPE, particularly along the central strake that curves into the tail section.

Inside, the modern design allows seating capacity for five adults as well as 650 litres of luggage. This compares well to the one-size-up BMW X5. And that figure rises to 1740L with the second-row seats folded flat and there are 13 storage areas spread throughout the cabin, with door sections capable of holding 1.5 litre bottles of water.

Jaguar boasts that the cabin is both wider and longer than the Audi Q5. There’s 65mm of rear knee room and 944mm of leg room in that back section, which is raised 10mm over the front to improve rear vision through the narrow side window apertures. The rear seats can also tilt backwards up to 6 degrees.

Up-front there’s 14-way adjustable powered front seats separated via a raised centre console, which Jaguar Design Director Ian Callum referred to as “sitting in the F-PACE, rather than on it.”

There’s also a stereo camera system that introduces autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, driver condition monitor and an intelligent speed limiter. The emergency brake can also detect pedestrians at speeds between 20-60km/h and pull the car to a stop automatically.

A laser head-up display promises to maintain image clarity even when glare is evident on the windscreen.

Occupants are set to benefit from Jaguar’s InControl Touch Pro infotainment system, which is accessed via a tablet-style, segment-largest 10.2-inch touchscreen. It houses a solid-state hard drive, and up to eight devices can be simultaneously connected to the F-PACE’s Wi-Fi hotspot.

Audio options include a top-spec 825w, 17-speaker Meridian digital sound system.

The intuitive 3D navigation system, which can learn favoured routes, notify people of your estimated arrival time and offers what Jaguar refers to as ‘true door to door guidance’, can also be accessed via the customisable 12.3-inch HD virtual instrument cluster.

In assessing the technological demands of modern families, Jaguar’s head of Connected Technologies and Apps Peter Virk said, “We focused on Generation Y and Z, who always want to be connected.”

As a result up to 20 apps, which cover such diversities as music, location services, news providers and productivity assistants are available in F-PACE, many of which can be voice controlled. The up to 1gb/sec Ethernet technology enables up to four separate videos to be played within the cabin, using the occupants’ personal devices. HDMI capability is also installed.

The F-PACE also debut’s Jaguar’s revolutionary Activity Key. This is wearable wrist-band style technology which is shock proof and waterproof for up to 20m depth and enables owners to securely lock the regular key inside the car.

The Activity Key is then held against the rear badge of the car with 3cm proximity to lock the vehicle and deactivate the traditional key. Jaguar used the example of a surfer not wanting to hide keys on a beach to demonstrate the Activity Key’s usefulness.

Of course, the InControl Remote phone application – as well as a new app for the Apple Watch – allows owners to pre-heat their F-PACE, as well as check its location, fuel level and locked status remotely.

Jaguar Global Marketing Strategy Director Steven De Ploey indicated a start price of 34,170 GBP for F-PACE, which places it “in the heart of the [UK] market and significantly cheaper than Macan.”

At this point localised pricing is not confirmed.