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2018 Jaguar F-Pace long-term test introduction

We just spent six months driving around Jaguar's XE in diesel trim, a fun, frugal sports sedan that impressed all of us. But we know that diesel sedans are a pretty slim part of the market, so we decided to check out the other side of Jaguar's coin. For the next six months, we'll be driving a 2018 Jaguar F-Pace. In today's SUV and crossover obsessed world, the F-Pace is already the brand's best seller, and if history and the Porsche Cayenne is any indication, it'll hopefully help finance the sort of lust-worthy but low-volume cars we all love so much. In the meantime, we'll be finding out what all those new Jag owners are getting themselves into. What we got Our particular F-Pace is very close to fully loaded. Outside, it's coated in deep, vibrant Caesium Blue, a hue that was originally intended only for the F-Pace First Edition but popular demand made it more widely available. It's accented with the "Black Package," a $360 option, which swaps out shiny chrome trim on the grille, window surround and fender vents for gloss black pieces. We also added gloss black 20-inch wheels to match, a $1,020 option. For $410, we added a fifth one of those wheels in the trunk, too, since we opted for a full-size spare. Our F-Pace's sporty appearance is complemented by an athletic engine. The F-Pace S (starting price $60,770) comes with the most powerful engine currently available, a 3.0-liter supercharged V6 good for 380 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque. Like all F-Pace models, all-wheel drive and an 8-speed automatic transmission are standard. Also, because this is the S model, our F-Pace has the ability to store a custom configuration for the steering and suspension. Most of the options on our F-Pace are convenience items such as the $1,840 "Comfort and Convenience Package" that adds heated and cooled front seats, heated and power-reclining rear seats, remote levers for folding those seats, and a powered, hands-free-opening hatch. The $2,350 "Luxury Interior Package" adds configurable ambient lighting, four-zone climate control, a lockable and cooled glovebox, an air quality sensor, a pair of 12V power sockets in the rear, illuminated door sill plates, a suedecloth headliner and fancier floor mats. The "Driver Assistance Package" and "Technology Package" each cost $3,250 and provided us with Jaguar's top-of-the-line Touch Pro infotainment system, Wi-Fi, a Meridian sound system, navigation, parking sensors, 360-degree cameras, and adaptive cruise control.

2018 Jaguar F-Pace S is a fun but thirsty travel companion

I love road trips. I've moved across the country twice, spending weeks living out of my car, eating granola bars and sucking down energy drinks like it was finals week all over again. I get a huge kick out of calculating fuel economy, stretching out tanks of gas or diesel until the low-fuel light begins to sear itself into my retinas. I try to take each and every one of our long-term vehicles on some such trip. Not long after our 2017 Jaguar F-Pace S arrives, my wife and I decided to see some family in Asheville, North Carolina, roughly 10 hours and 700 miles from our home in suburban Detroit. Now, I knew from the outset this was going to be a far different experience than our previous long-termer, a 2017 Jaguar XE diesel. I managed to eek out nearly 700 miles per tank, averaging 42 mpg over 2,000 miles with that car. But the 380-horsepower supercharged V6 in the F-Pace is rated at 18 city/23 highway with a combined rating of just 20 mpg. Not good, and — unlike the XE — I didn't think I could do much better without greatly altering my admittedly aggressive driving habits. Still, I wanted to take our blue bomber to the Blue Ridge Parkway, so onward I went. There were a few other things I was worried about over what was sure to be another 2,000-mile trip. The F-Pace's suspension was a bit stiff thanks to the sporty S trim. The 20-inch wheels don't help matters, though things could be worse (some people on staff wanted to get 22s). At least they look good. Still, the seats are comfortable and the radio is top-notch. LCD Soundsystem's latest album had just come out, so I put it on repeat and headed south. The first part of the trip was going to be both the most boring and the most economical. The roads in Michigan and Ohio are flat and straight. It isn't until you hit Kentucky and head into the Appalachian Mountains that things get interesting. Just set the radar cruise control and barrel down Interstate 75 with as much urgency as you dare. I forgot my Valentine One at home. The ride was firm but not as bad as I imagined it might be, at least once we got off of Michigan's pockmarked pavement. The F-Pace tracked straight and true, but I became acutely aware that the steering wheel itself was out of alignment, leaning just slightly to the left. Fuel economy was fine, but I was just meeting the EPA estimate, not beating it like I usually manage to do.

Jaguar F-Pace will debut in Frankfurt

Jaguar makes sports cars and it makes luxury sedans, but it is set to expand into new territory altogether at the Frankfurt Motor Show this coming September. That's where and when it will reveal the F-Pace, Jaguar's very first crossover, and the production version of the C-X17 concept pictured here. Developed with critical input from sister-company Land Rover, the Jaguar F-Pace is being billed as a "sports crossover," with a more on-road focus than the SUVs of its off-road counterpart. Expect a range of engines to draw principally off of the new Ingenium family of four-cylinder gasoline and diesel powerplants, capped by Jag's signature supercharged V6 – just like the new XE sedan with which it will share much of its underpinnings. We can always hope, though, for an even more potent SVR version to follow with the JLR's sensational 5.0-liter supercharged V8. The Frankfurt reveal will mark two years since the C-X17 concept was first presented at the same show in 2013. Its arrival, coupled to that of the aforementioned XE, promise to push Jaguar's global output up from around 80,000 units last year to more than 200,000 once both models hit their stride.