Jaguar F-PACE Review & Prices

The Jaguar F-Pace is the Jimmy Hill of premium SUVs. Why compare it to the big-chinned football pundit of yore? Because just as Jimmy would proclaim that football is very much a game of two halves, so too is the story of the F-Pace — initially a good looking, fun to drive SUV with a rubbish interior; latterly given the kind of posh cabin and plug-in hybrid tech that it needed to compete with excellent German alternatives.

The F-Pace isn’t on sale as a new car anymore, as Jaguar culled its range ahead of its all-electric re-invention, but there are plenty of used models around, and you might track down some new F-Paces yet sitting in dealerships if you try.

Always a striking car to look at, the F-Pace takes the usual big-and-tall SUV look and adds a large, but somehow classy grille, slim headlights, a discreet bonnet bulge, and jewellery-style brake lights. It’s certainly a more handsome car than alternatives such as the BMW X3 or Mercedes GLC, but the Audi Q5 runs it close for prettiness.

Early versions of the F-Pace had a dreary black plastic interior that made you think less ‘classy Jag’ and more ‘basic rental car,’ but that was improved in 2020 when the F-Pace was at long last given a cabin that looked and felt almost as good as those from the premium Germans.

A big part of that was the new 11.4-inch touchscreen infotainment system, a free-standing unit to replace the older, smaller, fiddlier inset screen of the original F-Pace. The later screen is really slick to use, thanks to Jaguar’s oddly-named Pivi Pro software. It’s not quite as responsive nor as simple as those deployed by the Germans, but it’s good, and the graphics look appropriately expensive. The built-in rotary dials, which are multi-functional, help a lot as they give you quick access to cabin temperature and fan speeds. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto were standard right from the start.

High-tech options included a digital rear-view mirror linked to a camera on top of the boot and a set of digital instruments which, like the touchscreen, became progressively better over time. Always annoying, though, were the touch-sensitive steering wheel buttons.

In spite of its size, the F-Pace was always only a five-seat car, with no seven-seat option ever offered. For most models, the 650-litre boot is bigger, by around 100 litres, than most alternatives, but that does shrink to a still-useful 552 litres for the P400e plug-in hybrid.

The engine lineup for the F-Pace was always quite broad, although it was largely made up of the oft-troublesome ‘Ingenium’ range of 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol and diesel units.

The basic D200 diesel, with 204hp, was actually the best all-rounder at least initially, but if you can find and can afford one of the V6 3.0-litre diesels, you not only get a smoother and more powerful engine that’s still fairly economical, you also get a more reliable engine that’s based on older Ford technology.

Petrol power initially also came from 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder Ingenium units, but early on was augmented by the 3.0-litre supercharged V6 engine from the F-Type sports car — which turns the F-Pace into a bit of a rorty tearaway. Later, those V6 engines were replaced by 3.0-litre turbo straight-six engines with either 300hp or 400hp.

There are two range-topping engines for the F-Pace. There’s the P400e plug-in hybrid, which has an impressive 400hp combined from its 2.0-litre petrol turbo engine and its electric motor, and which has a handy 33-mile range on electric power. It’s the F-Pace of choice for those who do most of their driving in town, but it gets very thirsty indeed on longer journeys.

However, if it’s performance you want, seek out the rare F-Pace SVR, which came with the 5.0-litre supercharged V8 engine from the old Range Rover and Range Rover Sport SVR models, developing as much as 575hp and providing some serious muscle car thrills.

One thing that all F-Paces do well is drive — an F-Pace is far more entertaining on a twisty road than an Audi Q5 or Mercedes GLC, and easily the equal of a BMW X3. It’s comfortable around town and on the motorway too, although big wheel options can trigger too much tyre noise at 70mph.

The F-Pace is a car that improved, quite dramatically, as it aged so find the most recent version you can. R-Dynamic models are the best ones to go for from an equipment perspective. To see for yourself, and see how much you could save with us, check out our used Jaguar F-Pace examples. You can also browse other used Jaguars, and when it’s time to sell your current car, Carwow can help with that, too.

Traditionally, Jaguars have been just that bit more affordable than the main German alternatives but the F-Pace upended that by being just a small bit more expensive, model-for-model. It was usually around £1,000 more expensive, in basic form, than a matching Mercedes GLC, BMW X3, or Audi Q5 and quite a bit more expensive than the very impressive (and hybrid-only) Lexus NX.

That gap only grew when you look at the plug-in hybrid P400e version. That was a great one to buy for a business user-chooser paying company car tax, but in terms of list price it was at least £5,000 more than its closest German or Japanese competition.

In its defence, the F-Pace did come well-equipped, including a sporty bodykit, 20-inch wheels, 12-way memory front seats, and the big 11.4-inch touchscreen as standard, but that’s still a big price gap to make up.

Very smooth and refined to drive, although it’s not the comfiest around town, especially if you go for the bigger wheels

In town

In town, you could probably get away with the lowest-spec F-Pace engine, the 165hp 2.0-litre diesel. To be honest, the more powerful 200hp version is a much-better all rounder, but on urban roads and streets, the lesser engine is okay. The plug-in hybrid P400e is even better though, as long as you’ve remembered to charge it up as then you can swish around on silent electric power. Even without that, the F-Pace is a refined car with quiet engines and the standard eight-speed automatic gearbox is very smooth.

The suspension is slightly less so, though. The F-Pace is set up to be a sporty SUV to drive, and if you’ve gone for the larger 21-inch wheel options then the ride comfort around town can be slightly over-firm. It never quite gets uncomfortable, but it’s not as soothing as some others. Visibility is good with big windows all round, although the driving position isn’t as high up as you’ll find in some SUVs.

On the motorway

If you’ve got a long motorway journey ahead, then either the four-cylinder D200 or the six-cylinder D300 are the engines to have. They’re both refined and smooth, and the D200 has impressive long-haul fuel economy. They’ve also both got very decent performance, with the 3.0-litre D300 able to accelerate to 62mph in just 6.1 seconds, which is indecently brisk for such a big family-friendly SUV. The recently-upgraded cabin means that the F-Pace is a more comfortable long-haul prospect now than it once was, and the standard-fit lane-keeping steering and radar-guided cruise control really help to take the sting out of lengthy journeys. The ride comfort is better when you’re on a big road, too.

On a twisty road

Here’s where the F-Pace really starts to separate itself from the premium SUV herd. Even with stern competition from the likes of the BMW X3 and Mercedes GLC, the F-Pace is very definitely up with the best of the bunch to drive when the road has corners. Well, assuming you can close your eyes when a Porsche Macan drives past, it is. The steering is light, but very direct and you can corner the big F-Pace with surprising enthusiasm. Here, that firm suspension translates into tight control of the body’s movements so the F-Pace doesn’t roll and start to feel ‘boaty’ in corners. It’s really quite good fun for something so big and chunky. The optional Adaptive Dynamics electronically controlled suspension is a big bonus when you click it into Dynamic mode, and it can help ease the worst of the suspension stiffness at lower speeds.

Space in the cabin is okay, although rear passengers won’t find the most generous of settings

Up front, the F-Pace has lots of space and there’s enough adjustment in the seats and steering wheel for even the tallest driver to get themselves very comfortable indeed. Storage space is also good, with big door pockets, and no fewer than three storage spaces in the centre console — one under the armrest, one under a sliding lid that also houses two cupholders, and another in front of the stubby gear selector which is home to the wireless phone charger, and a little slim pocket on the side of the console, just next to your leg. The glovebox is pretty decent, too.

Space in the back seats

In spite of the F-Pace’s size on the outside, it doesn’t have the roomiest back seat going. In fact, if you really need to get three people into the back of your premium SUV (a third passenger in the middle of the F-Pace’s back seat will be slightly cramped) then you’re better off going for the Jag’s related stablemate, the Land Rover Discovery Sport.

Space for two people in the back is decent, though you will find that alternatives such as the BMW X3 offer a touch more legroom. Headroom is fine unless you spec your F-Pace with the optional panoramic glass roof, which does rob a crucial few millimetres of hairdo-room. Seat comfort is good, although the view out for back seat passengers isn’t all that great as Jaguar has given the F-Pace a wedge-shaped window line.

Helpfully, there are two ISOFIX points in the back for child car seats, but none in the front passenger seat.

Boot space

The F-Pace’s boot seems massive on paper, as long as you don’t buy the P400e plug-in hybrid.

At 650 litres, it’s officially bigger to the tune of 100 litres than the boots of the BMW X3, Mercedes GLC, and Audi Q5, although Jaguar publishes to-the-roof space figures, whereas almost everyone else uses the luggage cover as the logical place to measure to, so it’s not like-for-like.

There’s also a bit of extra storage space under the floor, and the rear seats split and fold in a useful 40:20:40 formation (you could optionally fit handles in the boot that allow you to fold them without going around and doing it by hand). There’s a flat loading lip from the edge of the boot, although the little metal cover on the load lip can get rather easily scratched. Fold down the back seats and you’ve got 1,440 litres of space to play with.

The P400e plug-in hybrid has less boot space as it has to package the big battery for the hybrid system, but even then it’s still roomy with a claimed 552 litres of room, meaning that it’s the same size as the boots of its conventional diesel and petrol rivals.

Impressive infotainment and comfort, with just a couple of flimsy looking buttons betraying the otherwise high-quality cabin

The original version of the F-Pace had a very dowdy cabin that, frankly, looked and felt cheaper than what you’d get from significantly more budget-conscious brands. Thankfully, Jaguar chucked out all of that with the updated model which arrived in 2020, and since then the F-Pace had a cabin that looks and (mostly) feels every bit as good, if not better than, any of its rivals.

The star of the show is the updated infotainment system, which uses a massive, curved 11.4-inch touchscreen in the centre of the dash. Given that previous Jaguar (and related Land Rover) models had some of the worst infotainment systems around, this was a massive leap forward and was easily comparable with the best setups from BMW and Mercedes. The screen responds quickly to commands, the menu layout is logical, and you get nice features such as built-in music streaming and over-the-air software updates.

The main digital dials are slightly less impressive — they’re fine, and you can adjust the layout as you please, but they don’t look as graphically slick nor impressive as what you’d find in a BMW X3. The heating and air conditioning system is good, though — you control it through a combination of touchscreen and nicely tactile multi-function rotary switches, which is a better setup than an all-screen version might be.

The front seats are excellent, especially the optional sports seats which hug you snugly in place but never feel too tight nor too firm, like a good pair of jeans.

Basically, the F-Pace’s cabin became the one the car should have had all along, and although you will find one or two flimsy, fragile buttons and plastic panels, for the most part it looks and feels like a high quality interior.

Since the 2020 update, all of the F-Pace’s engines, bar the basic P250 petrol 2.0-litre turbo, get mild-hybrid assistance, so even if you’re buying a straightforward diesel model you’re getting at least a small amount of electrified motoring.

As all-rounders go, the 200hp four-cylinder D200 turbo-diesel and the 300hp six-cylinder D300 turbo-diesel are the best picks, capable of returning 44mpg or 37mpg on the combined fuel economy cycle. These are pretty realistic figures in the real-world, too. The D200 engine has exactly the same CO2 emissions as the cheaper 165hp engine, so there’s no tax savings in going for the most basic model — you’ll pay the same Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) and the £410 levy for cars costing more than £40,000. But that’s at least a big step away from the higher band of the D300 3.0-litre.

The P250 petrol turbo engine isn’t really all that much more refined than the diesel options, and you would have paid the same as the six-cylinder diesel in VED, so there’s not much point in it.

The P400e plug-in hybrid is the interesting one. It has CO2 emissions of just 49g/km (and an electric-only range of 33 miles when fully charged, although that’s more like 25 miles in real-world conditions). Beware the fuel consumption though. Jaguar claims fuel economy of 129mpg, which would be nice but on longer runs, lugging around a dead battery, you’re more likely to see more like 35mpg. Still not terrible, perhaps, but not as good as the on-paper performance unless you keep the batteries regularly topped up and stick to shorter journeys.

That said, you could just go completely nuts and get the 575hp supercharged V8 SVR version, but good luck getting 20mpg out of that one.

Euro NCAP safety tested the F-Pace in 2017, when it was first launched, and gave it five stars for crash performance, with a 93% rating for adult occupant performance and an 85% score for child occupant protection. That’s impressive, although NCAP’s ratings have since moved on so that original F-Pace may not be a five-star car were it re-tested today.

Then again, the F-Pace has moved on too, and now comes with an improved selection of electronic safety aids. As standard, R-Dynamic S models come with front and rear parking sensors, a rear-facing camera, lane-keeping assistance for the steering, and radar-guided cruise control. There’s also a trailer stability assistant for towing, and torque vectoring by braking, which improves the F-Pace’s agility and its ability to swerve away from danger. All F-Paces also come with a driver drowsiness monitor, and autonomous emergency braking as well as a speed limiter with speed sign recognition.

Jaguar does not have the best reputation for quality and reliability. The F-Pace has had five recalls in the UK, for detaching driveshafts, fuel leaks, fire risk, and CO2 emissions issues.

General quality has been quite good, but many owners have reported the sorts of annoying electrical issues that are common to the Jaguar brand (and which really shouldn’t be). At least there haven’t been many issues with core items such as engines and gearboxes. If you want the ultimate in reliability, though, just buy a Lexus.

Jaguar does offer a standard three-year unlimited mileage warranty, and that can optionally be extended out to four years, which continues with new owners into used ownership too.

The F-Pace finished well in the 2024 Driver Power Top 50 Cars To Own list, coming in 13th position, and owners gave it — perhaps surprisingly — a relatively good score for reliability and quality. Out of 32 brands in the broader Driver Power customer satisfaction survey, Jaguar itself finished in an impressive 9th place overall, although a massive 43% of owners reported faults with their cars.