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2017 Jaguar F-Pace First Drive

We know what you're thinking, and we tend to agree: The world probably doesn't need another crossover. But premium European automakers keep building them because people keep buying them. Before we even got behind the wheel of the 2017 F-Pace, we knew that it would be Jaguar's best-selling model by year's end. Now that we've driven the brand's first crossover, it's apparent that there is more to the F-Pace than future sales success. This is a real Jaguar. It would have been easy for Jaguar to borrow a platform from corporate sibling Land Rover. Instead, Jaguar's engineers decided to chart their own course, starting with the aluminum underpinnings of the XE sedan. As it turns out, that was a brilliant decision. The F-Pace looks and drives like a proper Jaguar, but it has some surprises hiding under its shapely sheetmetal that make it the most practical vehicle the brand has ever offered. The F-Pace sports a familiar face, with a voluminous chrome-ringed grille flanked by twin air intakes that are almost as large. Long horizontal headlamps flow into the fenders, and just behind the front wheels sit additional vents that are the only extraneous bit of styling flair on the entire vehicle. The overall look is smooth and taut, with lots of surface tension along the car's bodysides. Not that Jaguar would have done it, but we're glad this is not an overwrought Lexus RX clone. The F-Pace's proportions emphasize the chassis' rear-drive roots, although Jaguar will only sell the crossover with all-wheel drive in the US. By default, 90 percent of engine torque is routed to the rear wheels, and that can drop to as little as 10 percent as dictated by available traction. While the good old KISS acronym applies to the car's styling, it applies equally well to the driving dynamics with one slight modification: keep it sporty, stupid. A rigid aluminum chassis – it would be all-aluminum if the rear floor weren't steel to ensure proper 50/50 weight distribution – is derived from the same architecture as the XE sedan, rejiggered to sit higher off the ground and allow for greater suspension travel. As you'd expect, the F-Pace drives a heck of a lot like a sport sedan, only giving up the illusion if you notice how high you're sitting from the road. Jaguar has nailed the driving dynamics of the F-Pace. Steering is linear and, in Dynamic mode, perfectly damped. The ride on models equipped with adaptive suspension is firm and controlled, even with massive 22-inch wheels fitted.

Jaguar F-Pace gets 300 Sport and Checkered Flag special editions

Jaguar has applied the 300 Sport treatment to the F-Pace, as it did with the XE and XF sedans last year, and there's a Checkered Flag treatment for the F-Pace, too. In other markets, the 300 Sport comes with the choice of the 2.0-liter Ingenium four-cylinder gas motor or the 3.0-liter V6 diesel, but we don't get the 3.0-liter diesel in the United States. Exterior tweaks start with dark satin gray trim on the grille and window surrounds, side vents, mirror caps, rear fascia and door finishers. The package wears 22-inch gray wheels and plenty of 300 Sport badges. Three colors are available: Yulong White, Indus Silver and Santorini Black. Inside, yellow contrast stitching on the instrument panel and seats marks the beast, plus embossed logos on the front headrests. The steering wheel, carpet, and sills also get 300 Sport badging. The full-fat Touch Pro navigation with Connect Pro comes standard. Overseas buyers can upgrade with a sliding panoramic roof, but all U.S. F-Pace models come with that. We don't have domestic pricing yet, but UK figures equate to saving almost 50 percent compared to speccing options separately on the gas model, and a savings of about 90 percent on the diesel version. The Checkered Flag Special Edition starts with the R-Sport and adds plenty of gloss black, including 20-inch gloss black wheels. Color choices here are Yulong White, Eiger Grey and Santorini Black. Only the 2.0-liter four-cylinder units get the nod, either the 247-horsepower gas engine or — in other markets — the 237-hp diesel we don't get. Our diesel is a 2.0-liter, 180-hp unit. Spec is a bit reduced compared to the 300 Sport, with 10-way electric front seats instead of 14-way, and the Touch Pro navigation without Connect Pro thrown in standard. A UK buyer would save about 40 percent compared to ordering a la carte.

Watch Felipe Massa put the Jaguar C-X75 through its paces

Automakers who run their own racing teams enjoy the benefit of having top-flight professional racing drivers on call to help out with development work. Jaguar, unfortunately, has no such racing team, having sold its F1 operation to Red Bull back in 2004. So when it came time to put the C-X75 through its paces in this latest video, it turned to Felipe Massa. Why Massa, you ask? For one thing, having driven for so long for Ferrari, the Brazilian driver is used to applying his F1 skills in testing a supercar designed for the road. But since switching to Williams, he hasn't been called upon in that capacity. For another, it was Williams Advanced Engineering as much as Jaguar itself that spearheaded development of the C-X75. So Massa was the natural choice. The C-X75, for those who don't recall, represented Jaguar's plan to build a hybrid hypercar of its own. Having debuted way back in 2010 at the Paris Motor Show, the concept followed hot on the heels of the Porsche 918 concept unveiled earlier that year in Geneva – a predated by far the emergence of the McLaren P1 and LaFerrari. The original design called for a revolutionary powertrain combining a pair of micro-turbines and four individual electric motors in the wheels. When that proved unfeasible, Jaguar switched to a more conventional setup with a turbocharged hybrid powertrain. Unfortunately plans to put even that version into production were shelved. But the concept was revived for the filming of the latest James Bond movie Spectre. Check out the C-X75 being put through its paces by the eleven-time grand prix winner in the video above. Related Video: