Say Hello To The Jaguar F-Pace: A Macan Eater With Up To 375bhp

This is it, the Jaguar F-Pace. And if the look of this thing comes as a surprise, we can only assume you’ve had your head buried in the sand for the last two years. Yep, it’s two years since Jaguar released the C-X17 concept which previewed this new crossover, and the British company has spent the last few months aggressively teasing the production version.

No matter, as the teasers are finally at an end, and all the images and details have been at last revealed at the car’s Frankfurt Motor Show Debut. And the good news is, it’s all looking jolly nice under the skin.

It’s based on the same aluminium architecture as the XE saloon, and has the same double wishbone front/integral link rear suspension set-up. Based on our experiences with its four-door cousin, that means it should be rather splendid in the handling stakes. Weight wise, the entry-level 178bhp, 318lb ft 2.0-litre diesel model tips the scales at 1665kg.

Should you want to get from 0-60mph quicker than the 8.5 seconds afforded by the 2.0-litre oil burner, there’s a 237bhp petrol, and a 297bhp V6 diesel with a thumping 516lb ft of torque. The latter will get you from 0-60mph in 5.8 seconds, but if that’s not good enough, you can get one with the F-Type’s 3.0-litre supercharged V6 under the hood. Power? 335bhp or 375bhp depending on which you go for. The pokier one will do the whole 0-60mph thing in a tasty 5.1 seconds. Lovely.

The base diesel is available with rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, while the 2.0-litre petrol can only be had with the rear wheels driven. The 3.0-litre diesel and petrols, meanwhile, are all-wheel drive only. Want a stick shifter? It’ll have to be the 2.0-litre diesel in rear-drive form.

You’ll need at least £34,710 to snag the dinky diesel when the car goes on sale Spring next year, rising to well over £50,000 for a specced out V6 petrol. Will the F-Pace give the BMW X3 and Porsche Macan the thorough kicking Jaguar has in mind? We’ll have to wait and see…