F-Pace
seemed almost inevitable in the Jaguar 4x4 product plan, it's surprising to see that car testing quite so soon. But these are the first images, the SVR is a car guaranteed to be widely discussed and we do love a bit of spy shot speculation - here are the informed (or otherwise) guesses!
It's a shame there's no video with these images really; the sound has been described as "amazing" by our spy photographers but frustratingly without any further detail. Is it using the V8 widely seen in other fast JLR products? Or is there more headroom in the supercharged V6 for a performance variant? The F-Pace is in that strange position of being between the smaller SUVs (Macan, X3, GLC) and the larger models (Cayenne, X5, GLE), so expect a flagship to sit between those in terms of power. For reference a Macan Turbo produces 400hp, with a Cayenne Turbo at 520hp.
Anyway, to the Nurburgring images here. Given the lean on show they certainly weren't hanging around! Note on this car the revised front intakes, presumably because a larger engine requires additional cooling. The brakes behind these wheels - anyone recognise the latter? - look pretty serious too. The exhausts appear modest at the moment, but expect something a little more overt as production comes around.
There are rumours of this SVR being launched as a 2018 model, which would suggest a motor show debut at some point next year. Expect plenty more from Jaguar as that date approaches because, well, Jaguar rather enjoys making a big deal of its new cars. And can we have an XE SVR after that, please?
[Photos: S. Baldauf/SB-Medien]