2024 Jaguar F-Pace 400 Sport Review

Eight years ago the Jaguar F-Pace was unveiled as the British luxury brand’s first ever SUV. Today that same model introduced in 2016 is still the company’s flagship SUV, albeit with numerous updates and facelifts to keep it fresh. Never mind its age because it looks like it’s just been launched yesterday and it’s still one of the prettiest large SUVs around.

Indeed there isn’t a bad angle at all about this car. The perfectly proportioned body serves as a canvas for beautifully sculpted panels punctuated by intricate details such as the large front grille and rear bumper valance. It’s really quite a thing to look at.

The model tested here is the F-Pace 400 Sport, the best spec’ed variant available that sits below the full blown F-Pace SVR. It’s priced at $126,920 excluding on-road costs, which puts it in the territory of a BMW X5 xDrive 40i M Sport ($138,900), Audi Q7 55 TFSI ($137,200), Lexus RX 500h F Sport Performance ($126,000) and Genesis GV80 3.5T ($110,200).

Apart from the Audi Q7 which is about the same age as the F-Pace, all rivals are newer but the F-Pace’s last major refresh in 2022 not only updated the exterior but also brought about a revamped interior complete with a new infotainment system and driving instrumentation. The near-new cabin can certainly give rivals a run for their worth, scoring highly on material quality, luxury appointments, tech and amenities.

Our tester is spec’ed in the Ebony / Light Oyster interior colour trim and boy does it look expensive and exquisite. The two-tone contrasting colour scheme applied on the dashboard, door cards and steering wheel is striking yet inviting. It’s lifted by high quality polished chrome trim inserts generously distributed throughout the cabin. This is by far one of the most impressive SUV interiors we have seen in this price bracket.

As mentioned, nearly all the tech in the F-Pace cabin has been brought up to date, including a full LCD driving instrumentation with map view and a high clarity 11.4-inch curved touchscreen running Jaguar’s Pivi Pro infotainment system with support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The climate controls now use Range Rover-style rotary knobs which look and feel much more premium than the previous plastic buttons, though the fan speed, seat heating and cooling controls are also operated using the same knobs via a cumbersome push or pull then rotate gesture.

Gladly, the previous rotary shifter in the centre console is gone and in its place is a more conventional and less confusing lever to operate the 8-speed automatic. Also much nicer to hold and a lot more upmarket is the new steering wheel with haptic touch-sensitive controls in place of blocky buttons.

The massively decluttered and modernised dashboard and cockpit place the F-Pace among the best in the segment in cabin tech. Other notable features include a head-up display (a $1,960 option), an air ionisation system and an active noise-cancellation system that can cut outside noise levels by 4dB. While it’s hard to tell if the latter actually works, the F-Pace cabin is very quiet despite rolling on 22-inch wheels and low profile tyres.

Cabin comfort is right up there as well, with the front sport seats not only providing good support but also deceivingly comfortable. The rear seats are much the same, only less contouring to the body. There’re generously sized armrests for all occupants except for the rear middle passenger, the same can be said of the cup and bottle holders.

Further back the boot measures 755 litres in capacity which is one of the larger ones in class. The 40:20:40 split folding rear seats can be folded to expand the space to 1804 litres.

Since the last facelift in 2022, the F-Pace 400 Sport has been using a 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder petrol engine in place of the previous V6. Equipped with both a twin-scroll turbocharger and an electric supercharger, the engine outputs a potent 294kW of power backed by 550Nm of torque spread between 2000rpm and 5000rpm. Efficiency is kept in checked via a 48V mild hybrid system that assists with the engine stop/start function and powers the car’s auxiliary features.

Launching off the line, the 400 Sport delivers excellent response with a linear and muscular power build up all the way to 6000rpm, owing to the supercharger plugging the void left by the turbocharger in the lower rev range. A hundred kilometres per hour arrives in just 5.4 seconds, with the dash accompanied by a suitably meaty soundtrack from under the bonnet.

The eight-speed automatic transmission is as eager as the engine, with no hesitation in dropping cogs at first opportunity to have the engine at the thick of the power band ready for your right foot to extract, like a big cat ready to pounce on its prey. It’s fantastic for sporty driving but feeling a little nervous when you’re just cruising around.

For such a hefty SUV, it’s remarkable how planted and controlled the F-Pace is. As the sportiest model in the line-up bar the SVR, the 400 Sport brings car-like agility and handling through the bends, with good response from the steering and powerful brakes to shake off speed when you need to.

Out in the open road, it’s surprising how unassuming those 22-inch wheels are in impacting ride comfort. Undulations are rounded off nicely – the greater the speed the smoother it gets. It remains well damped around town but don’t expect it to feel as cushy as a Volvo XC90 or Audi Q7.

Our tested is fitted with the optional JaguarDrive Control with Adaptive Surface Response ($310) which is basically Jaguar’s version of the Terrain Response system from sister company Land Rover. It complements the standard rain-ice-snow driving mode and automatically adapts the car’s four-wheel drive system to the road surface, useful for those who regularly drive on farm roads or do light off-roading.

The F-Pace 400 Sport is covered by Jaguar’s 5-year unlimited kilometre warranty with 5-year complimentary roadside assistance. Servicing intervals are 12 months or 20,000km, whichever comes first.

Verdict

2024 Jaguar F-Pace 400 Sport pricing and specification