2022 Jaguar F-PACE SVR Review

 Key Features:

• Beautifully styled
• Sports car performance
• Well-balanced chassis

Direct Competitors:

• Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk
• BMW X5 M
• Audi RS Q5
• Lamborghini Urus
• Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio

The entire concept of a high-performance SUV is rather amusing. By definition, a sports utility vehicle was never intended to be fast, nor handle like a sports car. These things are typically used to carry families, tow a motorhome, or roam some trails. 

But the SUV has evolved tremendously over time, to the point where it has rendered the traditional automobile obsolete. 

What do you do when you’re a carmaker like Jaguar that has based its entire corporate image on the idea of a sports car? You inject that DNA in one of your sport utility vehicles and you come with something like this: the 2022 Jaguar F-PACE SVR, a fire-breathing, V8-powered utility vehicle that’s potent enough to shame several sports cars.

2022 F-PACE SVR | Photo: Jaguar 

Pricing and F-PACE Rivals

The SVR is the most powerful and most expensive trim level for the F-PACE. It sits in the very exclusive high-performance luxury SUV segment. And because the F-PACE is proportioned between a compact and a midsize, and sort of takes on both categories. Here’s our look at the entire Jaguar SUV lineup.

It faces very few rivals, but serious ones nevertheless. Think Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio, Audi RS Q8, BMW X5 M, Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk and Lamborghini Urus. We’d usually also include a Porsche Macan Turbo and a Mercedes-AMG GLE 63, but both those models are on hiatus for 2022. The starting price for an SVR is $98,400 before options. 

Inside the F-PACE SVR cabin

2022 F-PACE SVR | Photo: Jaguar 

The entire F-PACE lineup was submitted to a model facelift in 2021. Changes mostly affect the vehicle’s front and rear sections as well as the interior. There’s an all-new steering wheel design and a 11.4-inch curved glass touchscreen with Jaguar’s Pivi Pro infotainment interface. Jaguar also made a few changes to the center console, which now features a wider leather-wrapped shift knob and a larger roll-top storage compartment. And there's a wireless smartphone charging pad now. In SVR form, the F-PACE inherits beautiful sports bucket seats that firmly hold their passengers in place during hard cornering.

The entire dashboard design is clean, uncluttered and elegantly presented. The high seating position yields a command ship like feel, while the HVAC controls harmoniously blend haptic and physical controls. It all works with utmost fluidity; but most haptic buttons don’t work while wearing a pair of gloves. We also found it irritating to have to dig into the infotainment system to turn off the start/stop system. 

Entering the F-PACE’S rear area can prove a bit tight due to the shape of its doors and roof, but once seated, even tall passengers will find comfort thanks to ample head and leg clearance. The F-PACE is also remarkably practical, giving way to up to 2,010 liters of available cargo space when its rear seats are lowered. 

2022 F-PACE SVR | Photo: Jaguar 

Performance and driving impressions

• Supercharged V8 engine
• 550 horsepower
• 516 lb-ft of torque
• 0-100 km/h in 4.1 seconds

At the heart of the SVR’s mind-blowing performance is an engine that was taken straight out of the F-Type sports car. At 5.0 liters of displacement, this supercharged V8 pumps out 550 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque. All of it is channeled through all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission. The result is a 0-100 km/h time achieved in just 4.1 seconds. That’s quick, but some rivals are a tad faster. You’ll also get about 200 more horsepower from that Jeep Trackhawk.

The SVR’s off-the-line speed is expected given the hardware that’s hiding underneath its hood. But what truly impresses are the sounds that come out of its quad exhaust. The SVR is everything but subtle. It snorts out a mean and mechanical exhaust note, with highly amusing chainsaw-like burps when it shuffles from one gear to the next.

In the corners, this big guy quickly shrinks underneath its driver from its ability to devour a twisty road. The suspension is beautifully calibrated, with long travel, and a soft rebound, yet it still hooks to the tarmac. At full boil, the SVR squats down with its nose in the air, almost like a trophy truck hitting top speed. It’s always smooth, immensely comfortable, yet confidence-inspiring and engaging at the limit.

2022 F-PACE SVR | Photo: Jaguar 

Verdict: Is Jaguar’s 550-hp F-PACE SUV worth It?

Considering how many excellent alternatives the F-PACE SVR faces, it becomes difficult to choose the Jag over something American, German or even Italian, vehicles that’s quicker off the line as well. 

But the SVR is well priced, well designed, comfortable inside and offers the luxury amenities you’d expect from a premium nameplate. And that exhaust note just never gets old. We say that yes, the F-PACE SVR is worth your hard-earned money because it’s so beautifully distinguished, charismatic and a bit over-the-top, the way a British performance SUV should be. 

Plus, you’ll be driving a Jag, bragging rights that several of its rivals could only dream of offering their drivers.

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