Pacing the Noise
The small luxury SUV market is flooded with just so many models. Will Jaguar's E-PACE be able to carve a niche in this category?
The E-PACE is powered by Jaguar-Land Rover’s widely-used award-winning Ingenium engine, the 2.0 four cylinder, fitted with variable geometry turbochargers, is good for 365Nm of twist from just 1,200rpm, and 246bhp of grunt. Mated to a 9-speed automatic built by ZF, and drives all four wheels. Delivery of the drive is impressive, while the engine’s note at idle can be heard clearly from within the cabin, not in an annoying way, but like a pleasant reminder of a hot-performing beast within.
That said, our test “First Edition” trim E-PACE hits 100hm/h in just 7 seconds, pretty good a performer.
Their “R-Dynamic” trim model boasts a cool 400Nm, and hiits 100km/h in 6.4 seconds, which puts the SUV on-par with the Volkswagen Golf GTi. Pretty impressive we must say, since the engine has to not only perform, but needs to drive all four wheels.
Lightweight materials have been deployed to keep the weight of the car down, and also for the purpose of balance. The front suspension is set for added camber, ensuring minimal understeering for the E-PACE when taking turns. There is also a use of stiffer suspension bushes and anti-roll bars in the car. While handling is sharp, we feel that the combination of the large 21” rims, with thin tyres and firmer suspension does not do favours for ride comfort, including going around bends, where the rim-tyre combination does not help with soaking in the bumps.
Even on flat roads, there is a sense that there is more transmitted into the cabin, versus the competition. Steering feel though is very precise and we love how well weighted it feels. In-cabin noise is decent, though the transference of jolts from the road, does not help much in making the car an easy to accept favourite.
Perhaps with the E-PACE, Jaguar had tried a little too hard to stand out from the noise, with a market currently rather saturated with different brands, making it tricky in trying to find the white space in the very same target audience.
For those who would love a performer, and have a thing for a sharp-handling car, the E-PACE stands out and well suits them, but for those who may be keen on something which delivers better passenger comfort, there are many other offerings.
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