If you build a vehicle that effectively reconciles SUV utility and serious sport driving potential, they will come. If you can make them attractive to look at, they’ll sell like nobody’s business. Every luxury automaker has at least one of the broad-spectrum vehicles currently available or in the works. The SUV is passe. JLR‘s answer for the time being is the F-Pace SVR.
At $80K, Jaguar’s new F-Pace SVR might be the ultimate daily driver, but it’s joining the fray with stiff competition already in place. Mercedes-AMG’s GLE43/63, Porsche’s Macan, and BMW’s X lineup have just been joined by the Maserati Levante Trofeo, and all offer their own unique consolations.
But a Jag, as they say, is still a Jag. JLR debuted the SVR (‘Special Vehicle Racing’) at the 2018 New York Auto Show, giving industry critics and onlookers a glimpse of a high-powered SUV that’s one of the prettiest of its ilk.
The model gets the same V8 thumper as the $120K F-R. The engine throws out 550 HP for 502 pound-feet of torque, more than enough juice to raise a little gooseflesh sprinting home the long way. The SVR reaches a top speed of 176 MPH. The model also receives an eight-speed paddle-shift gearbox, AWD, active exhaust, and sport suspension.
Jaguar’s new F-Pace SVR will be available this summer with a base sticker of $79,990.