Jaguar's SUV is on its way. And it's called the F-Pace.
Odd name, you may think. The F refers to the F-Type that inspires it, and the Pace? Your guess is as good as ours, but Jaguar does cite its founding ideals of ‘Grace, Pace and Space'. Here's hoping an F-Grace and F-Space aren't lurking on the horizon, though.
We've only had a severely cropped-in glimpse of its badge so far, but the rest of the car is likely to heavily resemble the C-X17 concept we drove in 2013.
No bad thing, to our eyes, as by SUV standards it's quite a looker. And it certainly sits very comfortably with Jaguar's design language.
Jaguar does seem loathe to refer to it as an SUV, however, its official F-Pace bumf failing to use the term once. Instead, it's ‘a highly-efficient five-seat performance crossover'.
Jag's design director, Ian Callum, explains further. "The Jaguar F-Pace, inspired by the F-Type, represents a perfectly judged balance of style, performance and practicality. It offers a unique combination of Jaguar sports car inspired exterior design, fused beautifully with a thoroughly practical and spacious luxury interior. The F-Pace is our family sports car."
Little more light has been shed on the car, other than it will be underpinned by Jag's aluminium-intensive architecture and use a four-wheel-drive system with ‘All-Surface Progress Control technology', which it's safe to assume is a spin-off of cousin Land Rover's Terrain Response system.
An equally safe bet is that it will utilise JLR's four-cylinder Ingenium engine range, while there's likely to be six-cylinder petrol and diesel options for those wishing to make a bit more haste.
A V8-powered R or RS model? Given that Mercedes and BMW keep pumping out performance SUVs, and the loony Range Rover SVR is on the way, it'd be foolish to rule the possibility out. We'll know much more by the time the Solihull-built F-Pace launches in 2016.
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