A whacking great V8 motor makes this SUV think it’s a sports car

Through the automotive ages, countless people far wiser than we could ever hope to be hold one tenet to be a universal truth: there is no problem that cannot be surmounted with sufficient application of power.

Which is where the F-Pace SVR comes in. It takes Jaguar’s familiar 550hp, five-litre supercharged V8 – an engine also found in the F-Type sports car – and sticks it under the bonnet of the largest SUV it currently makes.

The results, as you might expect, are explosive. The F-Pace SVR will rocket from zero to 100 km/hr in 4.3 seconds and won’t stop until it hits 283 km/hr. It’s a figure that would rival most sports cars, a figure made even more eye-popping given it’s an SUV that’s doing it.

Of course, in the modern age, the super-SUV isn’t exactly a novel concept, with virtually all other manufacturers doing the same thing, but what Jaguar does differently is how much ‘sports car’ there is in it.

Where most other super-SUVs are content with their engines making a sort of genteel, baritone note, the F-Pace SVR is loud. Almost obnoxiously so, but in a good way.

What’s a little harder to bear is the ride quality. The F-Pace SVR is sprung a little too firmly for our taste, and the massive 22-inch alloys don’t help there either. It’s certainly not enough to warrant it a failing grade, but it certainly can get grating after awhile.

But then again, all those worries disappear when you consider how much Jaguar wants for the F-Pace SVR, which is stunning value no matter how cynically you want to look at it. Actually, scratch that.

At S$393,999, the F-Pace SVR is an absolute performance bargain, considering it’s a full-sized SUV with red-blooded performance credentials. It might seem a little crude against its segment rivals, with that hammer of a V8 motor and ride that can get jiggly, but for how much it costs, well, that’s forgivable.

PRICE: S$393,999 (including COE, excluding options)

GO: Monstrous V8 that makes a lovely noise

NO GO: Lumpen ride, unholy thirst for petrol