Is this the last stand for Jaguar’s sublime supercharged V8-powered SUV flagship?
Jaguar has crowned its F-PACE SUV line-up in Australia with the release of the updated SVR flagship. Landing several months after the regular F-PACE line-up, which was overhauled locally in the first half of 2021, the SVR adds performance, panache and a certain heavy-handedness that is increasingly unique. It goes like a scalded cat.
Knockout punch
This could well be the last stand for the V8-powered Jaguar F-PACE SVR, so why not send it out with a bang?
The 2022 Jaguar F-PACE SVR flagship has arrived in Australia presenting a strong alternative to like-minded high-performance SUVs including the BMW X3 M Competition, Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S and the Porsche Macan GTS.
Jaguar’s well-publicised move to an all-electric future by 2025 – a move sweeping the car industry more broadly – means the days are ultimately numbered for the SVR, or any V8-powered SUV flagship for that matter.
Selfishly from a driving perspective, that itself is a shame, because the latest host of updates and tweaks to the SVR have made a good thing better than ever.
Competitive set
As keen SUV observers will know, stepping into a performance model in Australia is an expensive, often time-consuming exercise at the moment.
Stock of many models is limited, pushing up used and demonstrator prices to stratospheric levels.
At $145,146 plus on-road costs, the 2022 Jaguar F-PACE SVR is hardly cheap. However, it does represent relative value against its competitive set, which includes the aforementioned German trio, together with the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio (from $147,950) and Maserati Levante S GranSport (from $182,490).
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) Australia insiders suggest getting hold of an SVR isn’t too arduous at the moment either; at least, not like the eight-month wait for a new Land Rover Defender, or the 18-month queue for the new Range Rover. A quick perusal of carsales listings also reveals a good amount of stock available at the time of writing.
Mirroring changes applied to the rest of the F-PACE line-up in 2021, the 2022 Jaguar F-PACE SVR scores a visual nip and tuck, plus some new cabin safety and technology. There’s also a bump in performance, which we’ll get to in the next section.
Physically, design changes are heralded by a sculpted new front-end that is said to reduce aerodynamic lift by 35 per cent.
Individual revisions include a reworked bonnet, larger front grille and air inlets with diamond-pattern detailing, and updated headlights with a new ‘double J’ light signature.
At the rear, the F-PACE adopts a wider-looking bumper and an updated sculpted lower valance.
Infotainment is facilitated by an 11.4-inch touch-screen with JLR’s latest Pivi Pro software. There’s also Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus digital radio and a 13-speaker Meridian sound system.
Wireless phone charging is one of the F-PACE’s many disguised options, listed at $450 even for the SVR. You can also expect to pay more for a head-up display.
Elsewhere, Jaguar has deployed a road noise cancellation system, which it claims is a first for this segment. And like the regular F-PACE models, a shorter gear shifter has been added, while the steering wheel gear shift paddles are made from a zinc-alloy material that is also splashed across the dashboard.
A customisable 12.3-inch digital instrument panel spruces up the cabin ambience, along with enhanced active safety systems including adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition and adaptive speed limiter.
The F-PACE retains a five-star ANCAP safety rating first awarded in 2017. Full airbag coverage, autonomous emergency braking (AEB), trailer stability assist, clear exit monitor, lane keep assist, front and rear parking sensors, rear collision monitor, rear traffic monitor, tyre pressure monitor, valet mode and rear-facing and overhead cameras are inclusive.
Elsewhere, the F-PACE SVR rides standard on 21-inch wheels and features LED headlights and tail-lights, dual-zone climate control, ambient lighting, 14-way adjustable heated and cooled front seats with memory function, auto-dimming rear-view mirror, and keyless entry and start.
Our test car’s price balloons out beyond $165,000 (before on-road costs), owing to fitted options including striking Atacama Orange SVO Ultra Metallic Paint ($11,050), a sliding panoramic roof ($4420), gloss black 22-inch forged wheels ($1690) and an Activity key ($680), among other items.
The latter handily allows you to wear the key like a watch, meaning you can lock the regular key inside the car while out in the ocean, or out cycling, like we did.
The F-PACE SVR is fitted standard with a space-saver spare tyre and offers a 2.4-tonne braked towing capacity with a 175kg down ball weight.
On the servicing front, the F-PACE SVR will set owners back $3750 over the first five years/130,000km, spaced across considerable 12-month/26,000km intervals.
A five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty is standard, as is five years’ roadside assistance.
Engine room
Jaguar has made some meaningful updates to the thumping AJ133 5.0-litre supercharged V8 engine in the 2022 Jaguar F-PACE SVR – even if the raw figures might not suggest it.
Power remains at 405kW, but torque has been augmented by 20Nm, to 700Nm.
Forget mapping tweaks, bore or stroke adjustment or bigger blowers – the decisive factor in liberating additional torque in the updated SVR is a beefier eight-speed torque-converter automatic transmission lifted from the $350,000 Jaguar XE SV Project 8.
Carryover twin-vortex superchargers are also fed cleaner air courtesy of the SVR’s bodywork tweaks.
Those changes, together with new gearbox mapping and other minute tweaks, mean the SVR can now dispatch 100km/h from rest in 4.0sec flat – 0.3sec quicker than before – galloping its way to a 286km/h top speed, up 6km/h.
It does so despite fitment of new particulate filters, a legislative requirement in many new cars, which usually tends to kill off exhaust sound as a result. More on this shortly.
A switchable active sports exhaust remains, while electronic active differential with torque vectoring by braking and configurable drive modes also buy into the performance brief.
The F-PACE SVR has a double-wishbone suspension up front, and a multi-link design at the rear, paired with adaptive dampers. Where braking is concerned, 395mm front and rear rotors occupy each corner.
Staggered Pirelli P-Zero 22-inch rubber is shod to our test car, measuring 265mm in width up front and 295mm at the rear.
Crowd pleaser
Most 2022 Jaguar F-PACE SVR drivers will likely rush to explain its biggest highlight is the scintillating blown 5.0-litre V8 engine. And it rightfully is.
But that’s not the only thing going for this big, angry cat.
Across a two-week loan during the recent festive break, the reality is the Jaguar F-PACE SVR enamours as a daily family hauler in equal measure.
Big, useable proportions, a considered ride and handling mix and a lavish interior treatment all conspire to deliver a stately, decidedly mature drive, underlined by the burbling bent eight that ended up striking a chord with every member of the family.
In fact, it’s difficult to think of many other 400kW-plus vehicles that are as easy to get along with.
The small yet meaningful changes to interior layout are noticed upon settling in. The remarkably thin front seats offer decent long-journey amenity and are hunkered down inside the cabin to cultivate adequate feel and vehicle spatial awareness.
JLR says a dedicated micro-processor runs the latest Pivi Pro infotainment architecture to speed up operations and provide better graphics; it certainly appears that way on test, with a markedly faster boot-up speed and reaction to commands compared with predecessor F-PACE models.
The system cleverly incorporates Apple CarPlay within the native screens, and after a time becomes relatively simple to navigate. Similarly, we found the capacitive climate control interface sound in its useability, cleverly bundling multiple features into a minimalist switchgear set.
And yes, you do get an all-important volume wheel closer to the gear shifter.
The cockpit offers excellent incidental storage, including cavernous door pockets and an assortment of open bins and hidey holes underneath the centre fascia.
Elsewhere, the back seat is accessed via generous door apertures, leading into a space that will comfortably cater for two adults on longer journeys.
Rear air vents are standard fitment, as is a rear 12-volt outlet. Disappointingly, our test car foregoes rear USB ports; it turns out you can option them, but they’re a circa $140 option…
Three top-tether points and ISOFIX attachment ports on the outboard seats ensure the F-PACE is child seat-friendly, while all occupants will appreciate the amount of room provided in all directions.
In a move which gives the F-PACE SVR a distinct advantage over the smaller Porsche Macan, the 793-litre boot offers adequate space for full-size suitcases or a designer pram, with a relatively accessible loading height, electric boot and split-folding seats which can increase the cargo space to a sizeable 1740 litres.
Fitting flagship
Dynamically, the 2022 Jaguar F-PACE SVR happily tiptoes between dignified comfort and rewarding performance, offering a hushed cabin environment and a ride that is devoid of serious crashing or harshness, together with a chassis that delivers meaningful levels of tautness and feedback.
The steering feels light enough at low speed, while forward-facing, rear-facing and overhead cameras mean we are able to avoid damage to our tester’s pristine black alloy wheels through countless car park scenarios.
At nearly 4.8m long, it’s a sizeable SUV, after all.
But enough of all that. The engine. What a cracker. From the moment you depress the starter button, which fittingly pulses upon getting in, the big Jag delivers all the sound, theatre and emotion befitting of a V8 flagship.
The engine and gearbox resist some of the low-speed idiosyncrasies of the previous SVR, offering purportedly quicker and smoother shifts upon setting off.
From there, the 5.0-litre builds pace steadily as required, finding peak torque from 2000rpm and offering the ideal immediacy for last-minute overtaking manoeuvres or climbing up to highway speed, whereupon the brute V8 happily tinkers along just above idle speed.
A heavier nudge of the accelerator is the SVR’s true calling card. It responds with an almost maniacal surge forward as the V8 opens its blaring pipes.
It reminds this correspondent of an old-school in-board speedboat, with that highly visceral V8 soundtrack (sans Holley carburettors in this instance) and a gentle if linear squat under power.
At this point the F-PACE gearbox extends an amiable partnership with rapid-fire shifts and excellent timing.
The F-PACE’s full-time four-wheel drive system also chimes in with a lovely rear-driven bias; up to 90 per cent of torque is sent to the rear Pirellis when in Dynamic mode, we’re told.
The SVR’s hefty 2.2-tonne kerb weight never really feels like an obstacle during acceleration; instead, the engine pulls hard to its 6500rpm cut-out and continues to soldier on into the next ratio.
Arresting all that speed is a cinch with those powerful stoppers, which feel largely immune to fade in road driving.
Even on an undulating B-road, it’s never really a white-knuckled ride either, such is the dampers’ ability to control big compression moments at speed with aplomb.
Dynamically, the SVR won’t rotate as deftly as the sinewy Porsche Macan GTS, a vehicle which offers more articulate steering weighting and, ultimately, marginally more dynamic prowess.
As such, you’ll feel the SVR’s mass lean more prominently to the outside wheels upon tipping into corners. It simply isn’t as tied down nor as incisive as its Stuttgart opponent either.
Yet, when driven as desired, the F-PACE offers the grip, finesse and stability expected from this calibre of performance SUV.
And judging by our combined fuel consumption figure across two-and-a-bit weeks and 900km – 11.9L/100km versus a claim of 11.7L/100km – it clearly doesn’t need to be driven hard all the time to be enjoyed.
Circus animal
Performance SUVs are a delicate balance at the best of times, but there are few that juggle duties as convincingly as the 2022 Jaguar F-PACE SVR.
Loads of character, ample space and high attention to detail throughout the cabin: there’s something for everyone to savour.
If you can afford one, then you probably should start savouring, too – before time ultimately runs out.
How much does the 2022 Jaguar F-PACE SVR cost?Price: $145,146 (plus on-road costs)Available: NowEngine: 5.0-litre V8 supercharged petrolOutput: 405kW/700NmTransmission: Eight-speed automaticFuel: 11.7L/100km (ADR Combined)CO2: 272g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2017)
Keyword: Jaguar F-PACE SVR 2022 Review