Jaguar F-Pace 20d review

• Published On: 2 May 2017
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Does the F-Pace with a smaller heart make more sense than the expensive F-Pace 30d?

The F-Pace recently won the 2017 World Car of the year award but in a more powerful avatar. The car you see here is the lighter F-Pace 20d and its prices range from ₹68.4 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) for the Pure trim to ₹77.8 lakh for the Prestige trim version featured here. The more powerful F-Pace 30d costs upwards of ₹1.18 crore.

While the 30d uses a powerful 300hp, 3.0-litre diesel V6 engine, this car comes with a more grounded 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel engine. JLR’s Ingenium engine makes 180hp and 430Nm in this car.

On the outside
The exterior of the 20d variants get lesser chrome garnishing than its pricier siblings but it's not something you’ll really be bothered about. Even in this shade of white, the handsome Jag SUV manages to stand out in traffic. The 20d Prestige gets less as standard than the 30d models. Surround camera, LED lights and reclining rear seats are some of the options on the expansive list of paid extras. And you should ideally option your car with lumbar support for the front seats. The rear seats are comfy and there’s plenty of space in the back. Overall ambience inside the bright and airy cabin is nice but some plastics and materials feel sub-par.

From behind the wheel
Start the car and the engine sounds a bit grumbly at low revs. It’s not exactly loud but there’s enough noise from the engine bay to make you wish you’d spent the money on a quieter Audi or Mercedes. There’s a bit of hesitation when you’re driving at slow city speeds. But, things settle down once you pick up the pace and the engine does find its rhythm quickly enough. The eight-speed automatic gearbox keeps revs low and the engine operates for good efficiency. Take this motor to the right side of 2000rpm, where the power is concentrated, and you’ll find that the mid-range is reasonably strong and the engine pulls quite comfortably to 4000rpm and beyond. This car is a good highway cruiser but the small 2.0 engine sounds a bit coarse when pushed and performance is not something to write home about. 0-100kph takes a leisurely 10.66 seconds. Even a Ford Figo 1.5 diesel is quicker. The F-Pace’s near 1.8-tonne bulk really weighs it down.

Where the F-Pace comes into its element is in the corners - it turns in with lovely fluidity and generally feels well balanced and sure-footed - it drives like a Jaguar SUV should. In Dynamic mode, which is the sportiest of the four drive modes on offer, there’s sufficient weight to the steering and it keeps the engine in its strong zone. The gearbox does tend to be indecisive in auto mode at times, but you can always use the paddles to take manual control. Ride comfort is largely good but there’s vertical movement at high speeds and some side-to-side motion at low speeds.

Is it worth the money?
While the 20d is significantly cheaper than the 30d, it’s still not particularly well-priced. There are larger and more powerful SUVs that cost less, making this car a bit hard to recommend to someone not primarily interested in how a car corners. Also, this car isn’t particularly quick. So, if you want the full F-Pace experience, the V6 diesel makes much more sense.