Trying the Jaguar E-Pace

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Mon 12 Mar 2018 00:15
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - Avant

I got an invitation to a Jaguar driving event to introduce the E-Pace - before I'd ordered the Audi, but I thought it would be fun to go along anyway, as it was not far from home, at Thruxton.

It was a very well-organised event, which included a road drive, a track session and a 'dynamic' session involving parking, skidpan and slalom testing. So plenty of opportubity to get to know the E-Pace.

Good things about it:

- Jaguar have made a great effort to make it handle like a Jaguar and not an SUV.

- It's big and comfortable inside but is only 4.3 metres long.

- It looks good, again more Jaguar than SUV. Well done Ian Callum.

- I read an interview with Ian Callum where he said that as long as he lived and breathed the heater and AC controls in Jaguars would always be separate from any touchscreen. Good on him.

Two bad things, which ensure that I don't regret going for the Q2:

- Jaguar must have done their marketing plan before dlesel's popularity started to wane, as there's no entry-level petrol, and the cheapest petrol is many thousands of pounds more than the cheapest diesel. The diesel performs quite well, but the acceleration isn't linear and there's a lag followed by a surge.

- After two years of suffering the V60's parking brake, which some tortured Swedish genius elected to place by the driver's right knee, there it is again in the same benighted place in the E-Pace, and as with the Volvo, counter-intuitive in that you push for on, pull for off. It's on the centre console in other Jaguars, so I've no idea why they've done it.

So if you fancy an E-Pace, vital to get a long test drive and make sure you like it. It was interesting that Matt Prior of Autocar drove one, but much preferred the Skoda Superb estate that he'd driven there and back in.

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Mon 12 Mar 2018 01:34
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - SteveLee

So if you fancy an E-Pace, vital to get a long test drive and make sure you like it. It was interesting that Matt Prior of Autocar drove one, but much preferred the Skoda Superb estate that he'd driven there and back in.

Well of course he did - stick anything German in an Autocar test and it'll win hands-down barring extraordinary circumstances. If it was exactly the same car but designed in Czech with no link to VAG he would probably slaughter it - ditto if it was exactly the same car with a Jag badge!

I remember reading a three way test of (then) super saloons when was looking to buy such a car, the Jag XJR came a distant third - why? Coz the handling wasn't racey enough and they didn't like the lack of a manual option (this was the mid 90s.) they did point out that the BMW M5 and Merc (I think) got skittish in the wet and over bumps - luckily bumpy wet roads are rare in the UK eh? Oh and the transmission was long in the tooth (fair point.) Needless to say I test-drove all of them and bought the Jag which rode beautifully and still entertained in the twisties - and that car never gave me a second worth of grief - totally reliable.

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Mon 12 Mar 2018 09:23
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - daveyjp

Due to what appears to be a worldwide shortage of a part for our forfour we are now entering week 4 of having the B class.

The handbrake is as described on the Jag - located by the right knee, push to set, pull to release. It makes no sense to me.

Last week it also failed to release after I'd pulled the handle. Light went off, but brakes still clamped on. I had to set and unset to get them to release.

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Mon 12 Mar 2018 10:45
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - madf

In 1967-69 I driove a Rover 75 with handbrake on RHS.. Easy to use and I had no difficulty. Now 50 years older, I am still young and adaptable to drive another car with a RHS handbrake. Anyone wanting to give me a E Pace for an extended trial will be very welcome..

That's the trouble with young drivers today - no flexibility and stick in the mud attitudes :-)

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Mon 12 Mar 2018 11:48
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - Avant

That will have been a proper mechanical handbrake which you simply operated with your right hand instead of the left - no problem.

The EPB on the V60 and the E-Pace is on the dashboard so that you have to lean forwards and downwards to operate it.

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Mon 12 Mar 2018 11:56
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - madf

That will have been a proper mechanical handbrake which you simply operated with your right hand instead of the left - no problem.

The EPB on the V60 and the E-Pace is on the dashboard so that you have to lean forwards and downwards to operate it.

Thanks.

What a carp design...

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Mon 12 Mar 2018 12:28
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - skidpan

After two years of suffering the V60's parking brake, which some tortured Swedish genius elected to place by the driver's right knee, there it is again in the same benighted place in the E-Pace, and as with the Volvo, counter-intuitive in that you push for on, pull for off. It's on the centre console in other Jaguars, so I've no idea why they've done it.

When we looked at the V70 in 2010 the parking brake was in the same position as you describe above, obviously the same when we looked at the V60 6 years later, barking mad design.

But I personally think the Toyota Avensis was even dafter, it was tucked up behind the steering wheel on the left hand side, possibly even more difficult to operate.

In comparison the EPB on the Superb is absolutely magic to use. The switches are easilly accessilble just where the handbrake would be. Set it to auto (the only position we have used in over a year) and you never need to touch it. When you stop in traffic it holds the brake pressure to stop the car rolling backwards or forwards and when you start to move it releases instantly. Turn the car off and the parking brake is applied mechanically and when you restart is released as soon as you move. Even the wife is impressed.

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Mon 12 Mar 2018 20:29
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - Simon855

Another thing you missed is that the E pace is very expensive, I was chatting with one of the Jaguar guys at Thruxton (I work there, I wasn't invited to the Jag event) and was astounded that the price of the car I looked at was almost £50,000...

I can't say the positioning of the parking brake on the V60 is anything to get bent over, it's never bothered me at all.

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Tue 13 Mar 2018 13:55
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - barney100

On my V70 you just engage the electric handbrake and it disengages by driving off, simple. No need to look at the switch either, you know where it is by instinct.

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Tue 13 Mar 2018 21:35
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - Miniman777

Initially, I was quite excited by the E Pace - great looks and style, but bit by bit, I've gone off it. And is a big way too.

Firstly there are the global diesel issues, next is the question marks over the reliability and longevity of the Ingenium diesel lump with a few problems in the Evoke. And now the handbrake...... When the configurator went online, a 2.0 petrol E Pace with some nice bells and whistles was coming out at around £38-39k, which is crazy money, and more than a BMW X1.

You can buy an ex-management (and bigger) F Pace or new the Volvo XC40 T5 for far less than an E Pace. I've seen a couple on the road early in the year (I live not too far from Jag's Whitley site) and they are a lovely looking car, but they've screwed up on petrol engine pricing IMO.

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Wed 14 Mar 2018 15:36
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - KJP 123

When manoeuvring my wife’s torque converter automatic I’d often use the handbrake rather than left foot brake and these types of handbrake don’t seem suitable for this.

Left foot braking might be ok if you only ever drive an auto but I’m not sure it is such a good idea if you often drive a manual as well.

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Wed 14 Mar 2018 15:38
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - KJP 123

Posted twice

Edited by KJP 123 on 14/03/2018 at 15:40

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Thu 15 Mar 2018 09:28
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - pd

On most cars with EPBs you don't ever need to touch the on/off button. On the vast majority they release and apply automatically, particularly when combined with "hill hold" so you rarely use it in regular driving. Of course, on an auto, you'll use it even less.

The Volvo (at least on the early V70s) wasn't a great design combined with a manual. It releases automatically but doesn't apply which means it is possible to stop and get out of the car without applying it. IIRC most of them didn't have any hill hold function on the manuals either which meant grabbling about almost under the dashboard to apply it.

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Thu 15 Mar 2018 09:35
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - pd

Just to add I don't agree "pull for off" is necessarily counter intuitive. If you're used to the "Mercedes" style foot operated parking brake it is natural.

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Thu 15 Mar 2018 11:40
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - Manatee

Bring back the fly-off handbrake. Easiest of the lot.

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Thu 15 Mar 2018 12:48
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - davecooper
Not sure how common it is but my current Mazda 3 will not release the EPB unless the drivers seat belt is done up. This is a good idea from a safety point of view but it has caught me out a couple of times when I have tried to move the car a few metres in my drive and have not buckled up. You sit there wondering why the car won't move until you remember the seatbelt.
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Thu 15 Mar 2018 15:08
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - skidpan

The Volvo (at least on the early V70s) wasn't a great design combined with a manual. It releases automatically but doesn't apply which means it is possible to stop and get out of the car without applying it.

That was part of the problem we had with the V70, the other was the numpty salesman who obviously did not know it automatically released, it was him who told us we had to release it before setting off.

Our MD had V60 and his solution was to never use it, (like most drivers I expect).

The Toyota salesman who took us out in the Avensis had obviously been trained by the Volvo salesman, he did not have a clue how to use the handbrake.

And te Skoda salesman, he did not have a clue what the auto setting did but at least he did know it released automatically when you moved off.

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Thu 15 Mar 2018 15:16
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - daveyjp

Hvaing had the B class EPB stick yet again last week and also the hill hold assist failing to release, I ventured into the manual to find out if it was me not doing something correctly.

I then found there is page after page on how to use the brakes and caveats about when certain functions work and when they don't. I immediately began to wonder for whose benefit it all is.

I do however have sympathy with sales staff who don't know the intricacies of every braking system on every car. Its a minefield.

From my reading of the manual it appears this particular B class has a fault.

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Thu 15 Mar 2018 16:38
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - Manatee

These things should either work fully automatically and without intervention, or on command only, or not be there at all.

The first time I jumped in my daughter's Audi I couldn't release the parking brake or get it to move. I think it was necessary to press the footbrake to release the parking brake but only on the first occasion after start-up, or something like that.

Even hill hold is a PITA. Catches me out every time I try to roll forward/back when manoeuvring. Nothing difficult about hill starts.

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Thu 15 Mar 2018 16:57
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - bazza

How is one supposed to do handbrake turns with all this gizmo? Very useful in the snow to bring the back around on a slippery turn. Disappointed to hear the superb has an e-book brake, another potentially fine estate car that's moved off my shortlist as a result.

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Fri 16 Mar 2018 02:10
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - KJP 123

On the MOT aren't handbrakes tested as emergency brakes, if footbrake fails, not as parking brakes? How well do they work in this way?

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Fri 16 Mar 2018 08:31
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - xtrailman

Can't fault the EPB on the Mazda CX-5.

It's my first car with the EPB, and to use it couldn't be easier, just like a normal hand brake, pull up to apply, push down to release.

It will auto release if i want it too but never use that function, the latest CX-5 also has some fancy auto hold release thing.

E-pace is too small for me so i woun't be looking at one next time i change, its over priced IMO.

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Fri 16 Mar 2018 17:56
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - concrete

Surprised you didn't try the XC60 Avant. But the parking break is in the same position you dislike and is counter intutive too. My friend has an F Pace and it is a lovely vehicle. He too was surprised that the petrol version is quite a bit more expensive. Seems odd when most cars are cheaper in petrol form. I was looking for a decent petrol to tow with in two years time but will be put off by this anomaly. Cheers Concrete

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Fri 16 Mar 2018 19:39
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - SteveLee

The only downside with the E-Pace is I think it's given Jaguar the excuse to push F-Pace prices up. Which is a shame because they were very keenly priced - not any more.

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Fri 16 Mar 2018 23:55
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - Avant

Welcome back, Concrete: I hope you had a good time abroad.

The new XC60 is a bit bigger than the old one, whereas I was looking for something a little shorter and with a better turning circle, to aid reversing in our driveway.

Also, the tortured Swedish genius has now had a baleful influence on the infotainment in all new Volvos, with the heating and AC controls now worked via a touchscreen. I know I'm not the only one to think that this is potentially dangerous, and surprising coming from Volvo who flaunt their attention to safety.

Edited by Avant on 16/03/2018 at 23:56

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Sat 17 Mar 2018 16:53
Trying the Jaguar E-Pace - concrete

Thank you Avant. Had a great time. Really enjoyed rural Portugal. There are a couple of places we intent to rerutn to next year, only for a bit longer next time.

My XC60 has seperate heater/ac controls mounted on the central housing. I can see your point regarding the touch screen. As anyone with an i pad can testify you have to be very dextrous not to engage sites or features you don't want. I can imagine this is difficult whilst driving. Have a look at the Skoda offerings. Iam told the Kodiaq and it's little sister are very good.

Cgeers Concrete

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