Published:
2 August 2019The underlying architecture of an SVR’s cabin is no different from that of any other F-Pace and dates back to the standard model’s introduction in 2016. This needn’t be particular cause for concern, though. Along with the high, wide window ledges, the elevated transmission tunnel gives the place more of a reassuring saloon-like ambience than might be expected, and yet the view out of the windscreen feels expansive in a way a lower-riding car could never hope to match. Fundamentally, this is a terrific environment for transcontinental journeys.
If there’s one new element you simply cannot miss, it is the fitment of heavily bolstered and quilted bucket seats, which come as standard and give the SVR a good degree of supercar wow-factor when you swing open a door. Slide in and you’ll find the hip point a good deal higher than it would be in a Stelvio Quadrifoglio and in many super-SUVs besides, but the seats themselves grip in such a way that you never feel unnecessarily perched. Some testers found the integrated headrests were positioned too low and protruded too far forward to be ideally comfortable, but the support of the seats, along with the positioning of the pedals and good adjustability in the electric steering column, was universally liked. Few comparably large SUVs feel so immediately natural to operate from behind the wheel – and certainly none with an intimidatingly big-capacity V8 in their nose.
Meanwhile, rear head and leg room is identical to that of lesser F-Pace derivatives and therefore generous to an extent that adults should have no qualms about travelling substantial distances as a rear-seat passenger. At 650 litres, boot space sits between that which you would get in a Stelvio and a Porsche Cayenne. Material quality also lies between the respective standards of those two models. Meanwhile, it’s noticeable that Jaguar has elected not to fit its new dual-screen Touch Pro Duo infotainment system to the flagship F-Pace, retaining an older set-up.
