The Jaguar E-Pace SUV preview is finally upon us and it's the first time we've seen the carmaker's littlest off-roader up close. First impressions? For a crossover, it looks pretty bloody good. Actually, it looks pretty bloody good full stop.
See, the issue with cars like this is that they tend to be a little bit - how to put this politely - homogenous. Frankly, the only thing that separates most of these high-riding amorphous blobs from one another is the badge on the bonnet, and even then it's sometimes difficult to tell. Yet this is definitely, definitely a Jaguar.
Look at the headlights, the rear end, the proportion of the 21-inch wheels... it's more like a Jaguar design best-of album. And, frankly, it needs to be. To stake a corner in the lucrative but extremely well populated crossover market, you can't rely on your brand name alone - the cars have to deliver.
But these mini SUVs can't just look good. As much as the marketers will try and tell you differently, they're bought by families so they need to appeal on a rational level as much as they do an emotional one. That's why the E-Pace is about as connected as they come. Up to eight devices can stream content using its 4G Wi-Fi hotspot, there's a central 12.3-inch full colour TFT driver display, a Head-Up Display that shows key info like your speed and sat-nav instructions, and you can create your own driver profile, which lets you personalise throttle response, steering and transmission settings.
The whole thing's underpinned by lightweight suspension architecture, all-wheel drive and a "torque-vectoring" system, which sends power to the wheels with the most grip, maximising traction on and off the road. OK, so this stuff's been around for a while, but don't forget that this is the cheapest SUV that Jaguar's ever built.
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In terms of power, it's not packing a huge amount of punch, but the "Ingenium" engines (that's what Jag calls its new family of power plants) range from a clean 124g/km CO2 diesel to a 295 petrol, which gets from 0-60mph in 5.9 seconds. But this car's not about speed (that's what the Jaguar F-Type's for). It's about leveraging the brand's position as a designer of beautiful things. And it's managed it, even with a crossover.
From £28,500. jaguar.co.uk
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