Jaguar F-Pace SVR Drive Review: Loud, Luxurious, Lovable
Sharp styling and a thunderous supercharged V8 engine makes the Jaguar F-Pace SVR the ultimate James Bond villain get-away ride.
Jaguar has really come into its own in the luxury automobile segment. The vehicles they produce look and feel substantive, while offering a level of sportiness that other certain manufacturers seem to be unable to replicate. This is especially true of Jaguar’s SUV models. Between the entry-level E-Pace, the larger F-Pace and the electric I-Pace, all three of these vehicles feel stand out in their own way.
However, there is always room for improvement, right? After all, there is a reason why so-called “Super SUVs” exist. These pumped up rigs have powerful engines, often of the V8 variety, big brakes, even bigger tires, uprated interiors, and flashy appearance packages. That is where the Jaguar F-Pace SVR comes in. As the SVR name implies, this model has been tuned and developed by Jaguar’s Special Vehicle Operations unit. Their goal is simple: Give it more of everything, especially in the power department, and let the lawyers deal with the consequences, after the fact.
The result of this SVR-ification is immediately apparent with the F-Pace SVR. The body lines are aggressive, and the fascias have large openings which feed air into it’s variety of coolers hidden beneath the surface. Those coolers, of course, cool the monster motor that also lurks beneath the surface. It’s a supercharged 5.0-liter V8, good for 550 horsepower and 502 lb-ft of torque, paired to the brand’s ubiquitous 8-speed automatic transmission, with all-wheel drive. It rolls on massive optional 22-inch wheels (21s are standard), and has enormous brakes, to control it 4,395 pounds of mass.
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What does all of this mean in the real world? 0-60 happens in a scant 4.1 seconds, and there is very little time to rearrange your eyeballs back to the front of your face as the F-Pace SVR hurtles towards its 176 MPH top speed. It also sounds vicious, thanks to a charismatic SVR-specific exhaust system. Fortunately, for the stealthier among you, there is a quieter exhaust mode setting available, but you really shouldn’t deprive yourself of this amount of joy. I certainly didn’t, much to my neighbors’ continual consternation.
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