New Jaguar F-Pace: Tested to extremes

   •  Jaguar F-Pace exhaustively tested
   •  Extreme durability check
   •  Performance optimised for all conditions

From the searing heat and dust of Dubai to the ice and snow of northern Sweden, the new Jaguar F-Pace - destined to arrive at showrooms in 2016 - has been tested to the limit in some of the most inhospitable places on earth, claims Jaguar Land Rover.

The automaker says: "Jaguar’s performance crossover offers an unrivalled blend of performance, design and practicality."

To ensure that every system functions perfectly even under the most extreme conditions, the new F-Pace has been subjected to one of the most demanding test programmes the company has yet devised.

OBSESSIVE ATTENTION

Andrew Whyman, Jaguar’s vehicle programme director, said: “We developed the F-Pace to offer the ride, handling and refinement demanded of a Jaguar, together with exceptional levels of ability and composure on all surfaces and in all weathers.

“Just as we paid obsessive attention to detail over the engineering of every component we’ve also exhaustively tested the F-Pace in the most challenging conditions to ensure that it will exceed the expectations of our customers around the world.”

At Jaguar Land Rover’s test facility in Arjeplog, northern Sweden, average winter temperatures rarely exceed -15C and often plummet to -40C. The automaker says the 60km of purpose-built handling tracks, mountain climbs, inclines, split-friction straights and off-road areas are ideal for optimising the calibration of the all-wheel drive, dynamic stability control and technologies such as Jaguar’s all-surface progress control.

"It ensure the car delivers the connected steering feel and agility fundamental to Jaguar dynamics DNA whether on snow or ice."

EXTREME HEAT

Temperatures in Dubai can exceed 50C in the shade. When vehicles are left out in direct sunlight cabin temperatures can soar to 70C – "exactly," Jaguar says, "what’s needed to ensure that everything from climate control systems to infotainment touchscreens function perfectly in extremes of heat and humidity."

The F-Pace has also been driven over gravel mountain passes - the first time, Jaguar says, that a test programme has included this uniquely challenging environment.

The automaker added: "It is this attention to detail that will help to make it the first performance crossover as the benchmark in its segment."

HOT TEST: The Jaguar F-Pace was tested the in the extreme temperatures of Sweden and Dubai. Image: Newspress