2016 Jaguar F-Pace 3.0 V6 S first drive

Ah, the road: not somewhere we were permitted to drive the F-Pace prototype at this juncture, with the European press drives planned for April. Ho hum. However, on 500mm-thick Swedish lake ice and densely packed snow – which is nothing like as smooth in reality as you might expect – the car certainly did everything necessary to back up those claims.

The hip point is medium-high, and pretty typical of its competitors, so getting in requires no bending or stooping. Once you’re in, the seats are wide and comfy and the driving position promisingly recumbent – with a close roofline and high-feeling waistline making you feel particularly nicely ensconced. Occupant space isn’t as generous as some medium-sized SUVs, but a 6ft 4in adult can easily find comfort in either row, while boot space is generous below the windowline.

The cabin looks and feels very much like that of an XF, with a few distinguishing features. Variable-colour LED strip-lighting gives the cockpit a pleasant glow after dark. Elsewhere, Jaguar’s next-generation InControl Touch Pro infotainment system is available, whose screen is an impressively wide 12.3in and whose processing power is evidently much greater than in the systems available on the XE and XF, leading to quicker responses and better usability.

Adaptable LCD instruments are another high-end touch, with an option to display navigation mapping across the full width of the 10in binnacle screen – although not quite with the graphical brilliance of Audi’s Virtual Cockpit.

Like other Jaguars the F-Pace has Normal, Dynamic and Eco driving modes, added to which is the Adaptive Surface Response mode for slippery surfaces and a new fully configurable ‘custom’ mode allowing you to tailor steering weight, damping and powertrain response to your own preference. The V6 S version doesn’t have the active sports exhaust of the equivalent Jaguar F-Type, and doesn’t sound nearly as throaty under power nor as cracklingly theatrical on the overrun. The combustive soundtrack is far from plain though, and seems well-judged for the role of the car.

All Surface Progress Control and Low-Friction Launch modes allow you to calm down throttle response as much as you like when ice and snow call for delicacy with your right foot – but in truth, even in its angrier modes, the measure and progressiveness in the F-Pace’s controls make it easy to drive smoothly. Wheelspin can be dutifully avoided, and even when courted needn’t be excessive at either axle, the drive system working very quickly to juggle torque fore and aft.

Though it’s hard to get much of an idea about cabin isolation when driving at low speeds on snow, the F-Pace seems to suppress wind, chassis and surface noise well. Its ride is more choppy and less supple over high-frequency ruts and bumps taken at low speed than the class norm, but it’s not without compliance, while fluency builds into the mix as your speed increases. Pitch, head toss and all-round close body control are particularly impressive, with the chassis controlling the car’s mass very cleverly even under high lateral loads and when tested with bumps.

Meaty, faithful steering filters back just enough contact patch feel to let you know how hard the front axle is working and guides the car with an incisiveness just off-centre that keeps it stable and reassuring at high speeds but keen-feeling on turn-in.

The handling balance has been quite expertly struck. On ice at least, the car is a little bit more stability-biased and surefooted than Jaguar’s saloons during steady-state cornering, although still ultimately responsive to a trailing throttle mid-corner.

In the more gentle drive modes, throttle-on cornering is utterly foolproof and reassuring, with the car going exactly where you point it. But cycle through Dynamic, TracDSC and DSC-off modes and the cornering attitude gets steadily more and more lively and throttle-adjustable, although even in the last of those modes, the rear axle moves around very benignly.

So where most of the F-Pace’s rivals would simply dive head-on for the snowbanks with a large mid-corner application of power, the Jaguar shows its poise and pedigree and remains supremely controllable and hugely flattering – which, for such a big car, is an even bigger compliment.