The Jaguar E Pace – the baby sized version of the larger Jaguar F Pace, small but perfectly formed, certainly a Jag, and lacking none of the style and panache of its stable mates.
Jaguar E Pace
The E-Pace is designed to look more purposeful than any of the competition, with design features borrowed from the F Pace and the sporty F type itself. Take the headlights that stretch back into the bonnet, side windows that taper to a point above the flared rear wheel arches giving it a distinctly sporty look.
The team at Female First were given the range-topping 298bhp 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine version which injects some serious pace, lighter, throatier, and more responsive than the diesels in the range. Jaguars techies say it gives the E-Pace the performance you'd expect from a sporty SUV.
The interior of the E-Pace is clearly taken from the F-Type, notice the low grab rail borrowed along with the joystick-style lever for the automatic gearbox rather than the rotary selector that found in the larger F-Pace.
All versions of the E-Pace come with a 10 in touchscreen infotainment system ‘Touch Pro’ from Jaguar. Quick to respond when you touch it, with sharp clear graphics are sharp making the interface reasonably easy to get your head around.
You might feel some of the icons are a bit on the small side but that’s subjective I didn’t have any problem with them while on the move.
To complete the cabin there’s a DAB radio, Bluetooth and plenty of USB sockets as standard, a punchy 380W Meridian sound system. Ours had the even more powerful 825W sound system and a TV, although it did lack the choice Apple CarPlay or Android Auto smartphone mirroring.
Well waiting outside was the car itself so talking over - time to get the E Pace into real life situations.
As we often do at Female First is get hit the M62 taking the E Pace over from Manchester to Hull via Leeds a somewhat challenging journey in peak traffic and inclement weather.
We found the Jaguar E Pace was easy to handle and very responsive amongst the ‘stop – go’ traffic in and around Manchester. When we got free of the ques the Jag responded with ease tackling the steep climbs over the Pennines hardly moving when encountering the strong crosswinds – you could use the old faithful, ‘it felt like it was on rails’.
Arriving in Hull I felt fresh and relaxed thanks to the quality of the ride, a major plus from Jaguar.
After lunch we decided to drop off the M62 to take the A and B roads for the return journey through the small towns and villages and test the handling on the even more challenging.
Arriving back in Manchester again the E Pace handled like a dream during the drive, negotiating the wet and often muddy potholed country roads frequently having to navigate past farm traffic all taken in its stride.
Collecting the kids from school they and their friends all piled in the spacious rear with ease – school bags and all. Swiftly away dodging the rest of the mum’s collecting their children with ease.
To Sum Up
The Jaguar E Pace was a stunning looking car that lived up to the hype, a pleasure to drive, the handling was second to none. The ease it dealt with everything that day to day life threw at it while delivering its occupants at their destinations relaxed, stress free and ready for the day ahead every time.
It gets our vote details www.jaguar.co.uk
Tagged in motor review Jaguar