► Same power, but more torque
► Faster, with higher top speed
► Fettled steering, dampers and brakes
Jaguar’s 2021 upgrades for the F-Pace SUV has been extended to its high-performance SVR model. This means the same exterior tweaks with the lights, bumper and front grille, along with a rejigged interior to replace the budget-looking XE saloon architecture – meaning new vents, screens and controls from the I-Pace. This might be a modest facelift, but it’s very much needed.
Read about the refreshed F-Pace
The front bumper with its enlarged lower intakes improves cooling to the brakes and V8 powertrain, while the overall shape improves aero, reducing lift by 35%. Other than the new 22-inch wheels and wider bonnet bulge, the F-Pace SVR is as recognisable as before.
Inside the cabin, you get patches of Alcantara on the door, seats and dash and SVR logos on the steering wheel, gear lever and headrests. You can option carbon fibre trim for the dash and slimline leather sports seats, but you’ll otherwise you’ll find the same updates in here as the regular F-Pace.
This includes the latest Pivi Pro infotainment system and 11.4-inch curved touchscreen – which is three times brighter and 48% larger than before.
There’s also active road noise cancellation for the first time to improve refinement, which might offer some relief if those 22-inch low profile tyres are enough to make you wince.
Enough about the aesthetics. You said it was faster?
Yes. The 5.0-litre supercharged V8 remains, producing the same 542bhp but torque is up by 14lb ft. That might not sound like much, but when there’s 516lb ft in total, that’s a beefy amount. The torque converter from the XE SV Project 8 has been fitted here, too, to deal with all the muscle, while the 0-62mph time drops by 0.3 seconds to 4.0 seconds flat. Top speed creeps up by 2mph to 178mph.
It’s also a smidge cleaner, with CO2 output dipping down from 281g/km to 275g/km and fuel economy going up by 0.5mpg to 23.1mpg. That won’t impress any polar bears soon, but at least you’ll continue to outrun them. And potentially scare them off with the noise from the quad exhausts.
The chassis also remains largely the same, with a bit more attention to detail paid to what’s on-board already.
This includes a recalibrated Dynamic mode to sharpen up the driving experience and a new Dynamic Launch feature, which maintains drive to the wheels during gear changes to sharpen up acceleration from a standstill.
The power steering system is claimed to be more immediate, with revised settings in each drive mode and the adaptive damping is tuned to improve the low-speed ride. Plus, as well as the improved cooling for the brakes, the updated braking system itself has reduced pedal travel.
In short, all these incremental changes should polish up this already-likeable bruiser of an SUV, offering a more discernible difference between Comfort and Dynamic modes.
If you want one, the 2021 F-Pace SVR is available now and you’ll need at least £77,595.
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