2018 Jaguar E-PACE Review

[MUSIC PLAYING] SPEAKER 1: 2018 Jaguar E-Pace R-Dynamic HSE. It's a long name, and it sounds like some sort of race car that's meant to smash top speed records. But actually, it's Jaguar's entry in the subcompact SUV segment. It may not be a race car, but that leaping cat badge promises a certain amount of sophistication and performance. It also comes with a hefty price tag. Does the E-Pace deliver? Let's find out. The E-Pace is very stylish. It stands out in this class. It's got really nice design. I would say that Jaguar has some of the best exterior design going right now. They have some very talented people on their team. One of the challenges for Jaguar-- or "Jag-you-ar," if you prefer it that way-- is to bring these SUVs into market and keep what makes a Jaguar special. If you think about Jaguar's history, it's been in handling, it's been in performance, it's been in sports cars. And you can make an SUV sporty, but you also need to keep it attractive for the reasons that people buy SUVs. Those are not always exactly the same as a sports car. If I had to use one word to describe the E-Pace's driving experience, it would be neutral, which I understand is not a very exciting word. But you just want to be able to trust that it's going to do anything that you ask it to do. And then know that maybe when you come out to the parking lot and you see it there, you're going to be like, oh, it's cute. The E-Pace engine is the 2 liter, and you got two versions of that. At the base model I think it's about 250 horsepower, and this one, the dynamic has almost 300 horsepower-- I think it's 296. And that's pretty impressive for a four-cylinder turbo, although it is not the highest-rated engine in this class of car. In sort of city driving, it feels really quick because it gives you a lot immediately with a small throttle input. It doesn't have a whole lot after that, which is pretty typical with a small engine. They kind of tune it so that it gives you the most in the place where you need it the most, which is initially and in under small inputs. What that means for you in terms of actually driving is that in city traffic, and you want to change lanes, and you need to speed up a little bit because you can see someone's coming, you will not have any problem doing that. You also won't have any problem merging into traffic off of an on-ramp. However, if you, say, are in a right lane on the freeway and you get stuck, like a backup on an off-ramp, and you would like to get over a lane but that lane is going freeway speeds, and you're stopped, you're going to be a little disappointed in this. You're going to need to leave some space. The 2 liter's backed by a 9-speed transmission, which I think is really nicely matched to this car. It doesn't search for gears. You don't really notice it at all which is exactly how a transmission should be. It's not super tunable. I mean, some of the other Jaguars have different settings that you can use to change the shifts in. I'm in the sport transmission mode right now and I don't really notice any difference from just the regular driving mode. Speaking of driving modes, the E-Pace has a snow-ice mode, which drops all the power down. And it has a normal driving mode, which is very comfortable. And it has a dynamic driving mode. As far as I can tell, all that does is change the throttle response, and honestly it makes it really jumpy. It's not something that you would want to drive around in the city in. I mean, it would actually be difficult to parallel park this car in dynamic mode because you'd just be like uh, uh, uh. So don't do that. Steering in the E-Pace is extremely neutral. Much like the transmission, I barely notice it at all. And really for a daily driver, that's kind of what you want. One thing I think is really nice on this car is the brakes. They're very linear and very smooth. When the team was out the test track, they put down a note that said that the brakes were a little bit grabby initially. I haven't noticed that at all. I have no problem with the ride. I think it's very smooth. I think it gives you just the right amount of feel from the road from the bumps. I have no complaints about it. I don't think it's uncomfortable at all. And that's actually pretty impressive because 20-inch wheels generally give you a lot of road feel, both good and bad. Because Jaguar is not just a performance brand but a luxury brand, you would expect the car to be quiet, to be civilized, and it is all of those things. There's almost no road noise in the car, just a little bit of tire sound. There's no whistles from the windows. There's no rattles. Everything is very smooth, very calm. When you explore the cabin and the exterior, you'll see this reoccurring little theme, and it's super cute. It's like a mama jaguar and a little cub. It's on the windshield and it's in the pedal lamps. And I think that that actually really sums up what Jag is hoping this car does, which is they are hoping that it's an entry-level family vehicle for a very stylish kind of family. And because of that, they have a lot of safety options on it. I mean, all of the stuff that you would expect. But the lane keep assist, if you have it turned all the way on, it will actually sort of pull the wheel away from the center line for you, which is great, I guess, if it's really consistent. But it's not, and it's not something that I would trust to make the right decisions. And because it comes on a lot, it's actually very annoying. But there's a sort of middle ground where it just sort of flashes a little light at you if you're crossing the lines, and that's actually pretty useful, especially if you are somebody who tends to drive with a lot of distractions. Say, kids in the car. Or if this is a car where you're going to let a younger driver drive it, because it is kind of shocking to realize how often you just make a lane change without using your turn signal. If you use your turn signal, that stuff doesn't even come on. So I think that it is a good training tool and a good safety tool. But just be aware that you can turn it off. And for me it's a much more pleasurable driving experience to not have the car yanking the steering wheel for me. [MUSIC PLAYING] When I first heard I was going to be reviewing the E-Pace, I was like, oh, cool. Electric car. But it turns out that in Jaguar language, that's I-Pace. The I-Pace is the electric car. The E-Pace, just the small, traditional gas engine. So to make up for my carbon footprint, I decided to plant some greenery. Plus, it gives me a chance to show you what 24 cubic feet of cargo space looks like. It's pretty good. You can fit a lot. And that's with the seats up. OK. For real, this is one of the nicest backseats that I have sat in any of these small SUVs. There's so much room. Like, a tall person could sit here. I have a ton of room. There is a ton of light. All of the design cues that are in the front follow into the m and it's just really pretty back here. It's nice. you know. It's not all plain. The way that the speakers and the leather and the color goes through is very attractive. So it's a nice spot to be. Plus, I actually think the back seats are more comfortable than the front seats. They're really nicely padded. And you know, you got your standard little cup holders, and an armrest, and plugs, and heated seats. So this is a good place to be. However, I think they achieve that by kind of moving everybody in the front part of the cabin forward. And while that's OK in the driver's position, the passengers are really cramped. I had a couple of different tall, broad passengers, and they looked uncomfortable. They looked kind of "bear in a clown car." The interior isn't overwhelming. And it isn't, oh, my god, it's incredible. But it's just nice. Everywhere where you can see or touch the car, the materials are pretty pleasant and soft. And in the areas where they didn't use the best materials, where they used kind of hard plastics, that's sort of out of your field of view as the driver anyway, so it really doesn't matter. It's just a clever use of materials, and theoretically that should help keep the costs down for an entry-level car. This particular model has eight million options, so the cost is not kept down. Let me have a little rant at Jaguar for that. Jag is like that friend who Venmos you for every cup of coffee that you drink when you guys go out together. It's like, oh, this is a totally reasonable price for a luxury SUV, like $38,000. That sounds great. And then it's like, oh, do you want a heads-up display? That's $1,000. Do you like this window? That's $1,200. Ooh, red interior. It really looks awesome. No, no, no. That's $1,300. It just keeps going. There are a lot of great interior color options for the E-Pace. I think there's like six different options, including this absolutely fantastic bright red. However, on the E-Pace, you can't really get that many colors for the exterior paint, which I think is kind of weird. I mean there's some different grays, and black, and one red, and one blue. But considering that this is a sort of entry to the brand, hopefully directing younger buyers to kind of get into the Jaguar lifestyle, at the very least they ought to offer British racing green with a caramel interior. Jaguar cannot catch a break on their shifters. I don't like the little round dial shifter and I don't like this shifter, which looks fine. I like the way it looks. But it's got this button here, and so it's like reverse is button in and forward. Drive is button in and back. If you don't, you just end up in neutral. You can move it-- does nothing. Park is a button. If you own the car and you drive the car, it will not bother you. You will get used to it. But the second that you let someone else drive the car, they will go insane, and you will have to lock them up, because they will not be able to figure it out. You just want certain things to be the same no matter what car you're in. I think that Jaguar's screen display is very pretty. It's full color. I like the sort of long, landscape view. It makes a lot of sense. Both passenger and driver can see what's on the screen. There's not a whole lot to do in it, even though it looks like there is. It doesn't have Apple CarPlay. You can't hook an Android to it. It'll read through a cable or Bluetooth, but it's a little on and off. I mean, every once in a while when I had my phone playing music, it would just be like, nope. No more Lana Del Ray for you. We're just not going to connect. OK, fine. You're the boss, Jag. For such a small car, the E-Pace has a lot of storage space. This little phone pad here, which also has a cool little Jaguar print on it, is really nicely placed. My phone did not slide out of it. Sometimes they're kind of too flat, and your phone slides away. And different-sized cup holders-- you can put a coffee cup with a handle in. While it isn't very big, the console is pretty deep so you can really fit stuff in there. And it has a whole bunch of different USBs-- micro, 12-volt-- and stuff in the back, which I believe is also an option. I think you get one standard, or two standard, but if you want all of the different plugs for everybody, then you've got to pay more money again. One thing that I always look for when I get in a car is, where can I put my purse if someone's sitting in the passenger seat. And this car has plenty of space on the side of the seat here, so I can put it here. I could put it here. And obviously I can put it in the back seat. But I think that that's nice, because that isn't always the case. And those of you who carry a purse know what I'm talking about. The Jag is very distinctive. Somebody would recognize it. You would be able to find it in the parking lot immediately. You wouldn't sort of walk up to the wrong car. Where the Jaguar has a little bit of an issue is it is very expensive. It doesn't start that high, but it ramps up like crazy. Like this car is $62,000. If you were comparing it only to its sibling the F-Pace, the F-Pace has a little bit more space, but I think that actually the E-Pace is more stylish. So there isn't an exact match-up with other cars that are compact SUVs, so I think this is a little bit bigger than, say, the Q3. It's a little bit smaller than the Q5. It's a little bit smaller than the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, which I think is a very pretty car and might sort of be considered a competitor to this in terms of being a standout, stylish SUV. I did some playing around on the Jaguar site and the configurator. And you can definitely start dropping options and get a very nicely optioned version of this car-- but not with all the bells and whistles-- for in the mid-$50s, which I think is slightly more reasonable. In the end, I really liked driving the Jaguar E-Pace. I thought it was a very well-balanced car. It was just quick enough. I think the styling's fantastic, and the interior was both comfortable and it looked good. From a financial viewpoint, the Jaguar is not the most sensible choice. It already starts at a high price, and it just goes up, up, up the more options that you add. However, if you want to stand out in a parking lot full of Volvos, Audis, and BMWs, the Jaguar is the way to do it. If you want to learn more about the Jaguar E-Pace and its competitors, check out our review at Edmunds. And make sure you hit subscribe for more videos like this.