First Drive: Jaguar E-Pace is a spacious SUV but misses the mark overall

What is it?

If you want to make money in the automotive industry these days, you need SUVs. Large ones, small ones and mid-sized ones – the latter being where the new Jaguar E-Pace comes in. Built on the same platform as the Range Rover Evoque, Jaguar will be hoping it’ll prove just as popular with customers.

The E-Pace expands Jaguar’s SUV line-up to two – the larger, award-winning F-Pace was introduced last year.

What’s new?

This is a completely new model for Jaguar, but aside from the bodywork, most of its construction uses existing JLR bits. However, the sum of all these parts is something the British brand has never offered before – design boss Ian Callum explained that the company targeted SUV practicality with the driveability and youth appeal of a hot hatch.

It’s also the first Jaguar to exclusively use the brand’s range of Ingenium engines, which are economical and inexpensive to run, if a little noisy.

What’s under the bonnet?

There’s a 2.0-litre diesel and petrol available in various states of tune. First we tested the 177bhp diesel engine with all-wheel drive, which proved perfectly up to the task of lugging the E-Pace around town and cruising at motorway speeds – it’s a loud, unrefined unit, but the cabin does a great job of insulating you from any rattles. The official fuel economy figure of 50.4mpg isn’t too wild a claim, either, helping running costs.

We also got behind the wheel of the 296bhp petrol, which proved a surprisingly good steer. Performance isn’t electrifying, but those who want some get-up-and-go from their mid-sized SUV will be well served – and it makes a great noise, too.

What’s it like to drive?

Despite the fact that the engines largely impressed, the overall driving experience did feel like it was lacking polish. The nine-speed automatic gearbox is the clear weak link, getting flummoxed in particular when you press the accelerator while at low engine revolutions – it doesn’t seem sure whether to down-shift or not.

The ride is also a bit too firm, and switching to comfort mode doesn’t seem to remedy this. That does help it excel in one department, though – handling. There’s no rolling in corners, making it genuinely fun to take down a B-road, though its limits are low. In all-wheel-drive guise it proved remarkably capable off road, too.

However, for the kind of driving most owners will do there are more refined, more comfortable competitors out there.

How does it look?

To extol the E-Pace’s sporting credentials, Jaguar took styling cues from its F-Type sports car, with the most obvious being the headlights. It’s far from a baby F-Pace, though – something Jaguar was keen to achieve – and has a far more ‘cutesy’ appearance than its bigger brother.

It definitely has less road presence than the bigger SUV, but whether that makes it more appealing to the younger buyers Jaguar is targeting with the E-Pace remains to be seen.

What’s it like inside?

The first thing you notice when you climb inside the E-Pace is how roomy it is. The styling does a great job of hiding the vehicle’s proportions and it feels like a much larger SUV inside. There are also some great styling cues from the F-Type, such as the grab handle and lovely temperature control dials.

There are some questionable design elements, though, such as the infotainment screen that’s raked quite a bit away from the driver, while some of the materials used lower down in the cabin feel cheaper than you’d expect from a premium brand.

What’s the spec like?

The standard specification is impressive, and makes the £28,500 starting price feel pretty well justified. All E-Pace models get the updated TouchPro infotainment system (which is light years ahead of the old set-up), LED headlights and a rear-view camera. Driver assistance systems include driver condition monitoring and emergency braking.

The high-spec First Edition E-Pace, which is available to early buyers has soft leather upholstery, a lovely suede cloth roof lining and 20-inch alloy wheels.

Verdict

We had high hopes for the E-Pace, and while it’s a great drive on a B-road it’s let down somewhat by the harsh ride and sluggish automatic gearbox.

However, the spacious and practical cabin will make it mightily attractive to young families, while the badge appeal means it’ll fit right in on the school run. Specify smaller alloy wheels to help combat the stiff ride and learn to drive around the auto’s inadequacies and the Jaguar E-Pace starts to make a viable – if somewhat pricey – case for itself.