2020 Jaguar F-Pace 2.0d R-Sport: Getting Spoiled

My wife Shawie and I were daydreaming. We were planning to live a simple life even if we were able to generate a huge windfall from the new business we were creating. When we become successful in our new endeavor, the only extravagance that we vowed to allow ourselves to indulge in would be a new house, a reliable and economical vehicle for everyday use, and perhaps, the restoration of our project cars, which we consider as our investments.

But all our plans for simple living were suddenly changed when we experienced the 2020 Jaguar F-Pace 2.0d R-Sport. After several days of driving the Jaguar performance SUV around, Shawie was quickly able to summarize in just three words what the F-Pace is really very good at: “It spoils us.” It spoils us with the prestige of the Jaguar brand. It spoils us with the luxury and comfort inside. It spoils us with its performance and fuel economy. And best of all, it spoils us and uplifts our social status just by merely being seen in it. Please allow us to explain:

Grace, Space, Pace

True to the Jaguar company slogan of “Grace, Space, Pace”, the features of the F-Pace are designed to embody these prestigious attributes. An SUV is traditionally a two-box design – a small box in the front for the engine compartment and a big box for the passenger and cargo compartment – but the F-Pace exudes an artful grace and sportiness in executing that traditional design. Despite sharing the platform of the Range Rover Velar, the F-Pace clearly distinguishes itself as a Jaguar and a sporting one at that, which is quite a feat in itself.

And even though technically, its dimensions classify the F-Pace as a mid-sized SUV, the interior makes you feel that you’re inside a full-sized SUV because of the intelligent use of space. There’s 385 liters of space in the cargo area even when there are five full-sized adults enjoying the ample head-, shoulder-, and legroom. Once the backseat occupants have alighted from the F-Pace, the cargo area can be expanded more than thrice to 1,290 liters with the rear 40/20/40 seats folded. That’s more than enough space to transport a large hoard of boxes containing your favorite wine, and enough space to carry a huge collectible Ming Dynasty vase with a passenger comfortable seated next to it, guarding the vase.

Engineering and Opulence

British cars are revered for their old school English elegance while German vehicles are known for their sporty Teutonic engineering. The F-Pace seems to be a mixture of both. You can feel the Teutonic engineering in the ergonomics of the cockpit and how all the controls are within easy reach. You can also feel it when the vehicle responds to your inputs on the steering wheel and on the accelerator or brake pedals. It’s as if Jaguar engineers engraved the word “pace” in German in every part that would provide motion. The F-Pace is truly a performance SUV that’s really sporty.

Jaguar is, after all, a British brand and the designers wisely integrated English opulence into the F-Pace with comfortable and supportive Luxtec sport seats that feature technical mesh on the seating area and contrast stitching. Ditto with the luxuriously-padded R-Sport soft grain leather steering wheel; sporty contrast stitching throughout the leather surfaces; and that sweet-sounding Meridian audio system. The attention-to-detail is akin to those inside a hyper-expensive luxury car, which is what Jaguar has become with its large premium sedans. It was a masterstroke of genius to incorporate all the English goodness of Jaguar into a performance SUV.

Ingenious Ingenium

It seems that the good people at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) Philippines have done their homework. They knew that wealthy Filipino customers like power, luxury and prestige in their vehicles but these affluent customers are also equally sensitive to the fuel consumption and maintenance costs, some more than others. The F-Pace is a luxurious performance SUV that you can drive without worrying about refueling every so often. It is fitted with a 2.0-liter turbo diesel 4-cylinder from JLR’s ingenious line-up of Ingenium engines. Driven with civility, the F-Pace can convert the diesel fuel from its 60-liter tank into more than 900 kilometers of luxurious motoring.

Driven with ferocity, however, the F-Pace can unleash its 430 Newton-meters of torque and leave all traffic behind by accelerating from zero to 100 km/h in just 8.6 seconds (or just about the time you finish reading this sentence aloud). With 178 horses under your right foot, it’s relatively easy to reach the claimed 208 km/h top speed, especially with the F-Pace’s svelte shape that’s designed to cheat the wind. Doing all these things while inside a luxurious cocoon, which stands a little higher than most common sedans and mini-SUVs, will eventually intoxicate you with power.

Hard Habit To Break

Shawie and I, as well as our parents, have always avoided spoiling our kids so they will grow up into disciplined, responsible adults. But we found ourselves slipping into something that we tried so hard to avoid. After driving the Jaguar around for a week, we were beginning to feel like spoiled brats. We began to want the immediate power delivery that F-Pace offers so that we can quickly leave other vehicles behind. We began to want the luxury, comfort, and convenience that it offers in droves. We began to want it all and we began to want it more.

Most of all, we began to want the prestige of driving an expensive car brand. We began to expect the VIP treatment given to us every time we roll up in the Jaguar. We began to command the respect that the Jaguar affords us especially from those who know that the R-Sport package is more up-market than the standard F-Pace. We began to feel important especially when people we don’t know wave at us, and when people we know ask us if they can “get a selfie with the Jag.” We were truly spoiled by the F-Pace.

We only got out of our stupor when we realized that we cannot afford to acquire a 2020 Jaguar F-Pace 2.0d at this time, especially the one we were driving with R-Sport package, which is priced at around P5.69M. Since we’re just starting with our new business venture, we might have to sell our house, our kids, and our pets just to make sure that we get spoiled by the F-Pace every day. So, reluctantly, we returned the test drive unit only to learn that Jaguar has a “Supercharged” promo for the month of June, where we can get the F-Pace with more than a million pesos off.

My wife and I looked at each other with the same thought: “Do you think we can sell our house, kids and pets before the end of the month?” Hmm…

Specifications

Price: P5,690,000.00

Classification: 5-door luxury performance SUV

Engine type: Ingenium liquid-cooled inline-4 turbocharged diesel

Capacity: 1999 cc

Maximum power: 180 PS (178 hp) @ 4000 rpm

Maximum torque: 430 Nm @ 1500 – 3000 rpm

Transmission     8-speed Automatic

Length: 4371 mm

Width:  2071 mm

Height: 1666 mm

Wheelbase: 2874 mm

Curb weight: 1790 kg

Ground clearance: 161 mm

Turning radius: 11.59 m

Fuel tank capacity: 60 liters

Acceleration: 8.6 seconds

Maximum speed: 208 km/h

 

Maximum loadspace volume behind 1st row – 1,290 liters

Maximum loadspace volume behind 2nd row – 385 liters

Contact Details

Jaguar Land Rover Philippines

All British Cars, Inc.

1008 Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA),

Greenhills, San Juan City, 1502 Metro Manila

Phone: (+632) 8784 5000