- Doors and Seats
5 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
2.0DT, 4 cyl.
- Engine Power
110kW, 380Nm
- Fuel
Diesel 5.6L/100KM
- Manufacturer
4WD
- Transmission
Auto
- Warranty
3 Yr, 100000 KMs
- Ancap Safety
5/5 star (2017)
2018 Jaguar E-Pace first Australian drive review
- Competitive price
- Sharp looks inside and out
- Wide choice of models
- Busy ride
- Complex range
- Heavy weight
The old British marque, Jaguar, long redolent of elegant saloons and evocative sports cars, is now charging full-tilt into SUV territory and a fresh population of younger, aspirational owners of both genders who are far removed from the typical tweedy types of the past.
Its first shot at an SUV – the F-Pace – became the marque’s best-selling vehicle in no time.
Who would have thought that Jaguar (and Land Rover) could be reinvented so comprehensively just a decade after they were grabbed from an indifferent Ford by India’s giant Tata Motors in a form of reverse colonisation. More a revolution than evolution. And not a moment too soon, with traditional three-box sedans and sports cars losing sales traction.
Now comes the smaller E-Pace, a crossover five seater to take on the BMW X1 and X2, Audi Q3, Mercedes GLA, and the soon-to-lob Volvo XC40 in an overheated segment.
Another great looker from design chief Ian Callum, it has unmistakable kerb appeal. Sharing a chassis with sibling brand Range Rover’s Discovery Sport and Evoque (but new from the firewall forward), the new E-Pace has no fewer than five 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine choices – three turbo diesels and two petrol units - standard all-wheel drive hooked up to a nine-speed auto and enough style, equipment, luxo-sporty character and broad appeal to propel it ahead of the F-Pace in sales sometime soon.
Inside the muscular and elegant E-Pace, you won’t find a trace of polished timber veneers and other finishes connecting to the olden days of Jaguar. The new SUV is more about modernity and urban cool. Like the F-Pace, it flicks the rotary gear selector dial used in the saloons in a favour of a recognisable traditional shifter.
And, chasing new conquests centred on young urban couples and more females, it is also comparatively affordable with the cheapest D150 base model priced from $47,750 plus on road costs.
Standard in the entry E-Pace are 17-inch alloys, 10-inch touch screen, rear camera and parking sensors, LED lighting for the front and rear, dual-zone air conditioning, heated door mirrors, rain sensing wipers, auto headlights, a skinny steel spare wheel, fabric seats, hill launch assist, engine stop-start, voice control on phone and radio, cruise control and speed limiter, and more. Safety features include six airbags, autonomous emergency braking and lane departure warning. The range has scored a five-star ANCAP rating.
The new decree from above at Jaguar and Land Rover is to give buyers an astonishing ability to mix and match their driveline of choice with an equally astonishing smorgasbord of trim levels and options. In all, there are 38 variants of the E-Pace. Provided they are prepared to wait four months or so for his or her newbie to arrive from Austria, a buyer can tailor a new E-Pace in every conceivable way from an extensive buffet. Ultimate custom choices, it is called.
A warning though: the many and varied options for the E-Pace are not budget priced. A couple of loaded early arrivals were priced close to $100,000.
A choice of five engines seems excessively generous, but this follows global policy. Starting from the bottom, the D150, D180 and D240 (diesels) come in three differing tunes and produce 110kW/380Nm, 132kW/430Nm and 177kW/500Nm respectively, while the petrol P250 and range-topping P300 produce 183kW/365Nm and 221kW/400Nm.
Above the base level E-Pace are the S, the SE and the HSE specification packs, progressively better equipped and all available for order with diesel or petrol power. If you want, you might specify the base D150 diesel in the upmarket HSE version. Or perhaps the punchy P300 petrol in the entry-level E-Pace.
An elaborate dress-up R Dynamic kit includes fog lights, wider front vents, different grille and obvious twin pipes. Inside, you get more shoulder height to the seats, steering wheel paddles, bright metal pedals and something called ebony morzine headlining. Despite its name, the R Dynamic does not include anything to boost handling or performance.
Based on early orders, Jaguar senses the sweet spot for local buyers is the mid-range D180 diesel mated to the SE spec level, priced from $62,430. As is usual with new premium products, early adopters are showing a preference for richer models and mixes, with most of the early orders settling between $65,000-$70,000.
Available through the Model Year 2018 lifespan is a specced-up First Edition variant based on the R Dynamic SE and giving a choice of either the D180 diesel or P250 petrol engines.
Aluminium is used for some of the suspension plus the bonnet, guards, roof and tailgate. Yet the E-Pace still tips the scales at a solid circa 1800 to 1926kg, well up on its rivals. It’s heavier than the aluminium-chassis F-Pace. This flab is the price paid for not having its own unique lightweight chassis. A bonus is the SUV’s towing capacity – a handy 750kg unbraked, and 1800kg braked.
Front passengers enjoy excellent head room and shoulder room. Rear space is snug rather than expansive, though there’s enough knee room to squeeze in a 187cm adult. Overall, the interior is sporty yet practical with loads of handy cubbies and storage bins. New owners can secure their takeaway skinny flat whites in the centre cupholders. Large 10.56-litre front door bins swallow standard bottles of wine and other personal stuff.
The optioned lower-level interiors are nicely presented in dark grey leather. Contrasting two-tone leather and stitched sports seats give the HSE a standout quality look. The dash and door trims are mainly of pleasing soft touch surfaces, spoilt by some tacky harder plastics around the gear selector and fascia binnacle.
The charge towards younger, jivier buyers is heralded by the bevy of infotainment and connectivity features. Up to five USB charging ports and four 12-volt power sockets are handy. The E-pace gets its own 4G wi-fi hotspot, and allows smartphones to be used directly through the infotainment system’s central touchscreen, accessing apps such as Spotify. But no Apple Carplay or Android Auto.
Boot space of 484 litres (1141 litres with rear seats flipped forward) is average.
Jaguar has been emphasising the sporty on-road nature of the E-Pace and its firm, eager progress is immediately obvious. Still, this is no performance car. The zero-100km/h stopwatch tells the tale - 9.9 seconds for the D150, 8.7 for the D180 and 7.0 for the D240. The 240 covers the sprint in 6.6 seconds and the P300 is the quickest at 5.9 seconds.
The engines are torquey enough and pleasantly responsive when cruising. But with the base D150 diesel in particular, there is some hesitation at low speeds, when the transmission searches for the right gear to get the nearly 1900 kilos jumping. Its heft affects the E-Pace dynamically, especially in abrupt changes of direction when there is a detectable slight shift in weight.
The gruntiest diesel, the D240, makes easiest work of hills and overtaking.
But it’s hard to go past the most powerful petrol variant, the P300, for all-round appeal It feels strong and the 400Nm of torque is generous even against its diesel brethren. The trade-off is fuel consumption – 8.0L/100km combined, when the diesels manage 5.6 to 6.2L/100km.
Anyone expecting that old Jaguar staple, a proud exhaust note, shall be disappointed. Progress is quiet, disturbed only by a little tyre growl on coarser roads.
The driver can go to individual settings to control steering feel, transmission shifting Configurable Dynamics gives the driver even more control with individual settings for the throttle, automatic transmission, steering feel and throttle response, but no influence over the suspension, not until the optional adaptive dynamics suspension system arrives in two months time, along with 21-inch wheels and tyres.
Taut suspension means the E-Pace offers no magic carpet ride on some of our less salubrious secondary roads.
Even on 17-inch wheels, the base D150 telegraphed the bumps and scarred surfaces to the driver’s hands. Further up the totem, E-Pace versions fitted with 20s on lower profile rubber were rewarding on smooth roads, but somewhat skittish on any rougher bitumen.
The brakes could benefit from a little more pedal feel, and the steering is quite light and not linear at modest speeds, feeling more communicative when up at the open-road speed limit.
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While Jaguar's reputation for patchy reliability has receded over the years, some will pleased to note a three-year/100,000km warranty with three years of roadside assist.
It’s easy to predict the stylish E-Pace will find fast favour with its targeted fashion-influenced buyers. It works easily in the city or cruising on weekends away. The bespoke choices of visuals and gear will appeal to those demanding individuality.
Late to the SUV party though Jaguar was, the brand’s transformation (helped along by Land Rover) from stuffiness into a cutting edge brand pursuing upwardly mobile city types is off to a flyer. Even against the might of Germany, Sweden and Japan, the E-Pace will be a winner, to be followed in October by its third SUV, the electric i-Pace.
2018 Jaguar E-Pace Price and Specifications
Price: From $47,750 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel and petrol
Power: 110kW, 132kW, 177kW (diesel) and 183kW, 221kW (petrol)
Torque: 380Nm, 430Nm, 500Nm (diesel) and 365Nm, 400Nm (petrol)
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic, all-wheel drive
Fuel use: 5.6L-8.0L/100km
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