Jaguar F-Pace SVR Review and Prices

If you’re looking for a seriously quick sports car but need something roomy enough to carry four friends and their luggage across countries in comfort, then the Jaguar F-Pace SVR could be the car for you.

Don’t be fooled by its SUV proportions, raised ride height and massive alloy wheels – the F-Pace SVR isn’t a hardcore off-roader by any means. Much like the Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 and Porsche Macan Turbo, this 4×4 is more at home storming down twisty back roads than hauling heavy loads along muddy farm tracks.

As such, it has plenty of gaping air intakes to cool its powerful engine – a supercharged 5.0-litre V8 no less – along with some gigantic brakes, four exhaust pipes and some clever aerodynamic fins and vents in the bumpers to help it slip through the air as easily as a high-riding SUV can.

External updates for 2021 are minor, with a slightly more aggressive front-end look and new LED lights front and rear.  This is still one of the better-looking performance SUVs we reckon, however.

Climb inside, however, and you’ll notice the SVR – along with the entire F-Pace range – has had an interior overhaul as part of a mid-life update. Gone is the dated infotainment, replaced with a slick new curved, tablet-like central touchscreen with a number of clever new features including over-the-air updates, The digital instruments are improved, too, as is the head-up display,.

Just as important as the glitzy new tech is the noticeable improvement in cabin materials over the old model. A greater use of high quality, soft touch trim, a more appealing design and increased personalisation choices now make this one of the best interiors in the class. That’s good, because the old car was a way off the standard set by the Porsche Macan and BMW X3 M. 

You can forget about traipsing off-road in the F-Pace SVR – this is an SUV built for autobahn storming, not hauling horse boxes across muddy fields.

The Jaguar F-Pace SVR isn’t quite as good at carrying three passengers in the back at once as the Mercedes-AMG GLC63, but there’s still easily enough space for two adults to stretch out. The boot’s pretty roomy too, so you’ll be able to chuck in a set of golf clubs without flipping the back seats down.

However, the way the Jaguar F-Pace SVR drives will make you want to carry on past the golf course and head straight for your favourite deserted back road. Every slight prod of the throttle is accompanied by a raucous yell from the exhaust and a delicious combination of bassy rumbles and high-pitched whines from the supercharged V8.

This 5.0-litre unit is a 550hp version of the 575hp engine from the F-Type SVR. Nobody would’ve been complaining it wasn’t fast enough before, but for 2021 torque has been boosted up to a very healthy 700Nm.  That means the hot F-Pace is now capable of sprinting from 0-60mph in 3.8 seconds, rather than 4.1, which gives the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio something to worry about.

Despite being significantly taller than your average sports car, the F-Pace SVR tackles tight, twisty roads with plenty of grip and very little body lean. Add to the mix some direct steering and a sure-footed four-wheel-drive system and the F-Pace SVR gives you plenty of confidence in slippery conditions or on unfamiliar roads. It really feels like a raised-up sports car.

Unlike many fast SUVs, the Jaguar F-Pace SVR isn’t overly firm over rough roads, and it’s even more comfortable for 2021. Even in Dynamic mode, it irons out bumps impressively well and there isn’t a great deal of wind or tyre noise to worry about – even if you pay extra for the optional 22-inch alloy wheels. Stick it in its most comfortable setting, and besides its rather excessive fuel consumption and rorty V8 engine, there’s little to tell you that you aren’t cruising along in a regular F-Pace.

This is what makes the Jaguar F-Pace SVR such an appealing SUV. It’s a very comfortable cross-country cruiser but, at the flick of a switch, it’ll put an embarrassingly big grin on your face. Handy when you find yourself faced with an empty stretch of road – or better still, a tunnel.