Road Trip: Jaguar F-Pace SVR to the Sunshine Coast

Jaguar’s high-performance F-Pace SVR is the kind of fierce SUV you’ve always dreamed of, with a price to match.

I may have felt a little intimidated when I first slid into the quilted leather sports seat behind the wheel of the Jaguar F-Pace SVR. After all, I’d read the brochure touting the SUV’s supercharged 5.0-liter V-8 that pumps 550 hp to all four wheels.

4.1-second blast to 60 mph, you say? That sounds scary enough but while I didn’t actually get to test that out, I will admit that driving the obscenely fast all-wheel drive Jag was thoroughly enjoyable and absolutely thrilling. Shifting gears via the aluminum paddle shifters was fun. For a crossover vehicle weighing in at 4,395 pounds, the F-Pace SVR sure moves quickly.

The near total silence inside the cabin was a dream. Just ask my kids, who drifted off to sleep on our road trip to the Sunshine Coast almost immediately.

And what a luxurious place to sleep it is. From the dash to the door panels and even the center console, every reachable surfaced of the F-Pace SVR is covered in leather. Mine came in red and black, but other options include white and black and tan and black, or just black.

While they snoozed, I played around by flicking the switch from Dynamic to Normal and Eco modes. In Dynamic, the gear shifts felt crisp, the steering firm. On Eco, it was a thoroughly comfortable drive and surprisingly quiet. No matter what mode we were on, the cabin was peaceful and the steering relatively easy.

It’s not hard to fathom the F-Pace as an everyday drive when you take into consideration all the standard equipment. Automatic emergency braking? Yup. Lane keep assist? Yes. Front and rear park assist? You betcha. It’s all free and included in the sticker price. The model I tested came with the full Driver Assistance package, which includes adaptive cruise with lane centering, high-speed emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, a surround-view camera. There was really nothing not to love about this car.

On the ferry ride from Earls Cove to Saltary Bay, we were the last to board and the F-Pace was in plain view for everyone to admire. And so they did. A few passengers came up to the car, walked around it, peeped through the tinted windows and even snapped a couple of photos posing with the car.

If that’s  not a sign that you’ve got a slick ride, I don’t know what is.

Jaguar F-Pace SVR from $67,250