Jaguar is one of the 3 iconic British brands from Jaguar Land Rover Automotive (JLR). New Zealand has always had a fondness for Jaguars, and their passionate followers could be easily described as diehard, as those who are bitten by the Jaguar’s bite see everything else as inferior.
Drivelife got a week behind the wheel of the new 2024 Jaguar F-Pace P250 Dynamic SE to see how it stands up in the most competitive market segment in New Zealand that is moving towards hybrids.
Jaguar has always kept things relatively simple in terms of vehicle options. Right now they have two sedans (the Jaguar XE and Jaguar EF), one sports car (the Jaguar F-Type) and 3 SUVs (the Jagaur E-Pace, Jaguar F-Pace and Jagaur I-Pace). Each of the is models clearly catering for a specific market segment. The F-Pace is a front line grunt, right in the trenches of the mid-sized SUV battleground, the biggest market segment in New Zealand. By the end of 2024 the F-Pace will be the only model left from Jaguar, as they prepare to launch their range of fully EV vehicles in 2025.
Starting at $119,000, Jaguar’s prices usually sit above the rest as an exclusive luxury product. However, cost does not mean quality, which we have seen in many of the vehicles the DriveLife team have reviewed over the years.
What We Like and Dislike About The 2024 Jaguar F-Pace R-Dynamic SE P250 AWD
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Clean exterior styling Luxury interior design Handling Boot space Tech specs | Driver’s seat back reset design Driver’s floor mats Steering wheel leather Engine noise Efficiency |
What’s In The 2024 Jaguar F-Pace Range?
Jaguar has three variants of the F-Pace available in New Zealand:
- Jaguar F-Pace R-Dynamic SE P250 AWD ($119,000)
- Jaguar F-Pace R-Dynamic HSE P400e AWD Phev ($155,000)
- Jaguar F-Pace SVR 575 Edition ($182,000)
On the face of it, the SE and HSE vehicles look the same apart from the HSE having larger alloy wheels as standard. So to boil it down, you can have the F-Pace in and petrol variant or a petrol plug-in hybrid variant with larger wheels. Or if you’re a bit mad, like most of the team at DriveLife, the SVR might be your thing with its supercharged V8.
2024 Jaguar F-Pace Colour Range
The F-Pace colour range is similar to Tesla paint options. White is the only no-cost option available. The rest all come with additional costs to the base price.
- Eiger Grey – $1,000
- Firenze Red – $1,000
- Ostuni Pearl White – $1,000
- Portofino Blue – $1,000
- Santorini Black – $1,000
- Ultra Blue – $1,000
- Carpathian Grey – $2,000
Our Review Vehicle’s Optional Equipment
- Premium Paint – Carpathian Grey – $2,000
- Red Brake Callipers – $650
- Heads-Up Display – $2,350
- Panoramic Roof – Fixed – $2,650
- Privacy Glass – $900
- Gesture Tailgate – $350
- 3D Surround Camera – $1,400
- Satin Charcoal Ash Veneer – $700
Including the optional equipment, our review car’s retail price is $130,000.
For a full list of specs and options available for the 2024 Jaguar F-Pace head on over to Jaguar New Zealand’s website.
How Does The 2024 Jaguar F-Pace R-Dynamic SE P250 AWD Compare To Its Competition?
Even though the mid-sized SUV market is on fire in New Zealand and as the EV market has slowed dramatically, most brands are quickly making the switch over to hybrid options. So this does not leave a lot of combustion engine only options to compare the F-Pace to.
| Make/ Model | Engine | Power/ Torque kW/Nm | Seats | Fuel L/100km | Towing Capacity | Boot Space, litres | Price |
| BMW X3 20d xDrive | 2.0L i4 Diesel Turbo | 145 / 400 | 5 | 6.5 | 750 / 2,000 | 550 / 1,600 | 124,990 |
| Audi Q5 Sportback | 2.0L i4 Petrol Turbo | 183 / 370 | 5 | 8.9 | 750 / 2,400 | 510 / 1,480 | $119,900 |
| Jaguar F-Pace P250 SE | 2.0L i4 Petrol Turbo | 184 / 365 | 5 | 8.0 | 750 / 2,400 | 650 / 1,440 | $119,000 |
| Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 | 2.0L i4 Petrol Turbo | 190 / 400 | 5 | 7.7 | 750 / 2,000 | 620 / 1,680 | 114,499.75 |
Please note that DriveLife does its best to ensure the information above is correct at the time of publication, however, prices, specifications and models can change over time. Please bear that in mind when comparing models in the comparison table.
First Impressions Of The 2024 Jaguar F-Pace R-Dynamic SE P250 AWD
Launched in 2015, the exterior of the F-Pace has not changed that much. Facelift styling lifts, LED lights, modern grille designs have trickled down, keeping the model current. Inside, the F-Pace has changed a lot more over the years, with the flow-down effect of the ongoing designs change and development to the Land Rover and Range Rover product line. Being a Range Rover owner, I instantly felt at home in the Jaguar as the buttons, layout and UI are very similar.
As the F-Pace has not changed that much over the years, it was not going to be much of a surprise from the outside. Our review car was Carpathian Grey with all the chrome trim blacked out. It’s a sleek SUV, very understated, but pleasant to look at.
The F-Pace did what most Jags do- ooze old money, and from every angle this SUV had the same feeling. It has a lot of small modern styling tweaks that have kept its design relevant, but I was keen to see how they have updated the inside too.
What’s The Interior Like In The 2024 Jaguar F-Pace R-Dynamic SE P250 AWD?
The inside of the F-Pace was a nice, clean and sleek design, with a strong line and a tasteful mixture of leather, aluminium and soft touch plastics. The central console started with the central display and then swooped down to the environmental control. Short gear selector left the cabin feeling open and spacious.
The front seats are well appointed and I really liked the white stitching on black leather – it has an old racing heritage feel about it. The front seats are sculpted with large side bolsters that give great lateral support. Overall I found the seats to be conformable, however as tall guy (just under 2 metres tall) the seat design that looped around on the seat back left an uncomfortable feeling in my shoulders blades. This wouldn’t be an issue for smaller people, but it left me a bit sore after a few days.
The back has loads of room too, and the styling of the seats carry on in there too. Three can be seated across the back. But its a tight fit if you have a child seat in there, though. My 6-year-old daughter had no problems getting in and out of the vehicle, and had plenty of kicking leg space too. Those who are parents will know what I mean.
I did have one issue, which was the steering wheel, the leather or material used for it is really hard and didn’t feel as nice as the rest of the leather in the car. That, and the discomfort in the seat I mentioned earlier, are a bit disappointing.
The central infotainment screen runs the latest generation of Jaguar / Land Rover’s media system. It’s in line with the brand, very clean, clear and elegant. The main menu has 3 sections, Navigation, Phone and Media. Everything else is hidden away in apps or menus for when you need to tweak it. But I found that most of the time, this is all that is required to be available for easy access.
I also like how Jaguar has set up the instrument panel under the central media screen. Left and right are the dual-zone temperature dials; when pressed, these also do the heated seat setting. Between these there is a touch sensitive panel which covered, air conditioning on and off, sync, auto, max and demisters. Once again, it was clean and a nice way to tackle the selection of buttons we need to have at easy reach.
Just below this control panel and above the gear selector is the wireless phone charger, which can also double as a place to put your wallet or anything else that may be in your pockets. I find this is something many new cars do not accommodate any more.
The boot is a great space, much larger than I had expected, as the F-Pace is not a massive car. With the rear seats up, there are 650 litres available, which must be among the highest in its class. This gets even better when the rear seats are down, which allows the boot space to open up to 1,440 litres. Even with the rear seats up, there was more than enough room to get a weekly load of shopping, scooter, toys and everything a family needs to carry around on the day to day. The boot also has easy access pull handles from the back to let down the rear seats and 6 tie-down locations.
What’s The 2024 Jaguar F-Pace R-Dynamic SE P250 AWD Like To Drive?
The Jaguar F-Pace is a rather nice driving experience. It’s not a heavy car at all, super easy to manoeuvre and navigate around town. Yet when you’re out on the open road or some twisty back roads, the SUV steering is sharp and precise.
The driver’s dash is clean and simple; one central dial with the speed in the middle, surrounded by a rev counter. On the sides there are display areas which you can set up to display a range of different information. I had mine setup so that it showed media being played on the left and the GPS navigation map on the right. Thumbs up to Jaguar for keeping it elegant and simple, without getting lost with too many graphics.
Visibility out of the F-Pace is good, the driver has a clear view all around, and the cabin is nice a bright thanks to the panoramic fixed-glass roof. The rearview is a bit tighter and high up, so smaller cars close to you can completely be hidden in the review mirror. The 3D parking cameras helped to give me peace of mind when parking, ensuring I had a clear view around the vehicle.
The engine in the P250 is a 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbocharged petrol which creates 184kW and 365Nm of torque. It’s not often I say this, but I have to speak up; this engine feels too small for this car. The majority of the time driving it, it felt like the engine was using more power than I should have, straining and running at higher revs while not getting the performance that I wanted out of it. The engine sound is also made more apparent by how quiet the cabin is, the engine is too noisy. I imagine the hybrid version of the F-Pace would be a dramatic improvement to the vehicle’s overall driving characteristics.
This was also seen by the fuel economy, which was around 11.5 litres per 100km – not great for a 2.0-litre engine. For example, my Range Rover Sport has a 3.0 litre V6 engine and its average is 12 litres per 100km. As everyone is generally looking to get more efficient vehicles, most ICE engines of that size score under 10.0 litres per 100km.
Brake feel on the F-Pace are firm with a lot of feedback, which I liked. This is unlike some of the newer EV cars, where the brakes can feel very soft and hard to feather in. Around town, the F-Pace feels light on its feet but sharp when needing control. Out on twisty roads is when the Jaguar feels alive, the brakes acting like claws as you change direction and bob and weave around some country lanes.
Driver modes are straight forward; Comfort, Performance, Eco, and Snow. I found the difference between Performance and Comfort to be minimal, with the car holding the gears longer in performance mode. Eco was the opposite, where the gears were short and throttle control became sluggish. Overall I left it in Comfort as I found that to be the best around setup for the F-Pace.
2024 2024 Jaguar F-Pace R-Dynamic SE P250 AWD – Specifications
| Vehicle Type | SUV |
| Starting Price | $119,000 |
| Price as Tested | $130,000 |
| Engine | 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbocharged-petrol |
| Power, Torque kW/Nm | 184 / 365 |
| Transmission | Automatic |
| Spare Wheel | Space saver |
| Kerb Weight, Kg | 1,897 |
| Length x Width x Height mm | 4747 x 1640 x 1664 |
| Boot Space / Cargo Capacity, Litres (seats up/seats down) | 650 / 1,600 |
| Fuel tank capacity, litres | 83 |
| Fuel Economy, L/100km | Advertised Spec – Combined – 8.0 Real-World Test – Combined – 11.5 Low Usage: 0-6 / Medium Usage 6-12 / High Usage 12+ |
| Towing Capacity Kg, unbraked/braked | 750 / 2,400 |
| Turning circle metres | 11.95S Small: 6-10m / Medium 10-12m / Large 12m+ |
| Warranty | 3-Year Warranty |
| Safety information | ANCAP Rating – Unrated – Link Rightcar.govt.nz – 5 Stars – QRF182 |
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