Jaguar E-Pace VS Volvo XC90
Jaguar E-Pace
Likes
- Exterior design
- Steering feel
- Affordability (for a Jag)
Dislikes
- Cheap interior touches
- Jiggly ride
- No CarPlay
Volvo XC90
Likes
- Excellent space and seating options
- Top-notch safety package
- Power of combined engines
Dislikes
- Hard to replicate fuel economy
- Can occasionally feel lethargic
- Some option packages a bit cheeky
Summary
Jaguar E-Pace
The E-Pace is a new Jaguar, or is it? Jaguars used to be something your boss drove, cars with a whiff of snob about them, as well as subtle scents of cigar, whisky, mahogany and Old Spice.
They were also loud, powerful and proud machines, and as British as referring to Australians as “colonials”.
The E-Pace, on the other hand, is a small SUV that smells, sounds and seems like a lot of other cars in what Jaguar refers to as, “the hottest segment in the car world; premium soft-roaders". If that sentence alone, coming out of a Jaguar spokeshead’s mouth, doesn’t sum up the way the company has changed, I don’t know what does.
Making your brand more affordable while still making it look desirable is a hell of a profitable trick, if you can get away with it.
Jaguar claims the E-Pace is “the coolest SUV” reasonable money can buy, and with prices starting under $48,000, this really is a Jag for the workers, rather than the bosses.
What does set it apart, however, aside from that tempting price point, is its looks. Jaguar’s genius designer, Ian Callum, has done it again, creating a simply sexy vehicle that’s so instantly desirable that Australians have piled in with pre-orders, so many of them that the company is already certain the E-Pace will be its biggest-selling model.
Those customers who’ve slapped down deposits without even sitting in one, let alone driving it, might be in for a few surprises.
The E-Pace might not be the full Jaguar, but is it a cute enough cub to cut it? We drove as many variants as we could at the Australian launch to find out.
| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 2.0L turbo |
| Fuel Type | Diesel |
| Fuel Efficiency | 5.6L/100km |
| Seating | 5 seats |
Volvo XC90
With its new XC90 line Volvo has squashed the stereotype that a luxury seven-seater has to be powered by a lusty V8. We put the hybrid T8 to the test.
We live in a world of stereotypes. All black people can dance, all Asians are good at maths, all Americans are loud and brash. Blondes are dumb, girls are not good at sport, police officers live on doughnuts.
By the same token, BMW drivers don’t know how to use an indicator or read a stop sign, Audi drivers are yuppies, Mercedes drivers are arrogant and stuffy, and Toyota drivers are, well, beige.
Oh, and Volvo drivers are tree-hugging, latte-sipping, doily-loving, hat-wearing geography teachers or dentists who drive boring, conservative cars too slowly in the fast lane, and refuse to let people pass.
Like mud, if you fling stereotypes around often enough, they stick and Volvo has had to work hard here to kill the 'just another Volvo driver' leanings.
It has answered in the best way possible with technically advanced, sharp-looking cars that will continue to be on trend for years to come. With the new XC90 line it has also squashed the stereotype that a luxury seven-seater has to be powered by a lusty V8.
We put the hybrid T8 to the test.
| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 2.0L |
| Fuel Type | Hybrid with Premium Unleaded |
| Fuel Efficiency | 2.1L/100km |
| Seating | 7 seats |
Verdict
Jaguar E-Pace7.9/10
There is absolutely no question the Jaguar E-Pace will be a huge success for the company, and will increase the number of Jags you see on the road exponentially. Much as the German brands have done, since way back when Mercedes launched its A-Class, the British brand has now made itself attainable to the masses.
There’s plenty to love about the way the E-Pace looks, particularly from the outside, and about how it drives. There are, however, some niggles that suggest you might want to test drive one before slapping down your hard earned, and the cheap-feeling plastics in the interior, even in up-spec models, will disappoint some people. Overall, though, Jaguar has built an absolute banker.
Check out Peter Anderson's E-Pace video from its international launch earlier this year.
Could the E-Pace be your first Jaguar? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
Volvo XC907.9/10
This hybrid XC90 is on point with all that Volvo’s flagship offering is renowned for – safety, performance, technology and style - and allows you to give impetus to your environmental ideals too.
The D5 Inscription remains my favourite in the new XC90 range because of its overall verve but no doubt the Twin Engines will find equal favour especially amongst buyers who spend a lot of time in traffic covering short distances.
Design
Jaguar E-Pace8/10
Frankly, design might just be the E-Pace’s most important feature. It manages to make a small SUV look genuinely desirable by being sexily shapely and perfectly proportioned. This is a seriously difficult trick to pull off, but it’s one that Jaguar has done before, with the hugely successful F-Pace, so this is a case of giving people slightly less of the same.
There really isn’t an angle from which the E-Pace doesn’t look good, but the more money you throw at your car, the better it looks, as the wheels grow from the standard 17-inch ones to very tough looking optional 21-inch units.
At the bottom end of the spec chart, on that sub-$50,000 version that almost no one will actually buy, you don’t even get exhaust tips, and indeed at first glance it looks like the car doesn’t have pipes at all (a weedy little pipe is tucked away underneath), and this does look a bit ordinary.
More chrome and shiny bits are thrown at the car as you move up the price points, and the R-Dynamic spec is obviously the sexiest version of all.
What’s interesting is how different the design feels once you get inside. Imagine being given the famous blue box from jewellers Tiffany and finding a plastic cereal-box ring inside and you’re somewhere near the E-Pace experience.
There is some really quite nasty cheap plastic around the gear lever, in the doors, and right around the window switches in an area you’ll touch every day. The shabby grey plastic surround of the shifter is made of the kind of nasty stuff Hyundai no longer uses.
Not only can you see that it will mark up and wear quite badly, but if you tap on it it makes the kind of noise you’d expect from a kids’ lunch box.
Fortunately, the steering wheel still feels premium, the touchscreen is large and top quality and there’s plenty about the E-Pace that reflects Jaguar design, but it’s hard to get past the feeling that the corners that have been cut to save money are showing so clearly you could cut yourself on them.
Volvo XC90
What’s not to love about a large, chunky SUV with a no-nonsense stance and bold demeanour? One where the sloping lines and angles don’t mess with the feeling of understated efficiency and the sizeable grille and 'Thor's hammer' headlights are complementary rather than a distraction?
That quiet confidence is mirrored in the interior space, too, where the minimalist design brief leaves an uncluttered dash and just a couple of buttons to interrupt a smooth and tasteful canvas.
The cabin really is a beautiful place to be with its large digital driver display and, in our test car, a stylish mix of leather, wood and smart plastics proving to be a winning combination.
Supportive, luxurious sport seats whip up the comfort level and electrical adjustment means it is super easy to settle on a suitable driving position.
Not as simple, however, was getting the side mirrors to stay in their set positions, the pesky things assuming a shape shifting personality of sorts every time you switch off the engine. There is evidently some hoodoo combination to get them to behave but as I found with the S90 that particular spell does not feature in my extensive repertoire.
Practicality
Jaguar E-Pace8/10
While the interior might feel cheap in places, it’s certainly spacious, with excellent headroom front and rear, and a sense of light and airiness that’s much helped by optioning the panoramic glass roof (for a hefty $2160).
Jaguar claims its rear seats are so large customers will shop the E-Pace against bigger vehicles, like BMW’s X3, rather than just direct competitors like the X2. This might be a stretch, but I certainly found it comfortable enough to sit behind my own seating position (I’m 175cm/5'9") without my knees touching the seat back. Shoulder room is also good and four adults could certainly ride in this car in comfort.
Sadly, the seats aren’t quite as comfortable as you might hope, being slightly flat and unsupportive, particularly in the cheaper models.
There’s a cheap-feeling oddments tray that covers two differently sized cupholders between the seats, which can be lifted off and stowed in a good-sized storage big under your left elbow. Another oddment storage tray, made of a quite ugly plastic, sits underneath the head unit and there are large storage pockets in the doors, front and rear, as well as storage for large bottles. Boot space is also reasonably capacious at 484 litres.
Volvo XC90
Seven-seaters are a boon for large and growing families, for people who are often carrying the kids’ friends, or if you just want some extra space. The XC90 has the latter in spades with plenty of room for long legs and big heads although the third row is naturally better suited to children instead of adults.
Comforts back there in the third row include air vents and cup holders as well as decently-shaped seats.
Oh, and much greater odds of being able to gulp down those dodgy marshmallows you found at the bottom of the swimming bag before your mother spots you.
There are similar offerings for passengers in the second row – climate control and storage I mean, not marshmallows – with integrated booster seats and two ISOFIX points also adding shine.
The outer seats in the second row slide forward and tip over to facilitate access to the back while both the second and third rows fold flat, individually if need be, to increase the load compartment.
The boot features a pair of sturdy shopping bag hooks, too, which may not raise an eyebrow in your world but are invaluable if you want to arrive home with the box of eggs intact and not crying over spilt milk.
Price and features
Jaguar E-Pace8/10
There’s no doubting the perceived value of offering a vehicle with a Jaguar badge that starts under $50,000, an idea that would have seemed unimaginable not so long ago.
And if we all bought cars by the kilogram, the E-Pace would certainly be a bargain, because it’s a heavy beast of a thing, far outweighing any of its competitors at not far off two tonnes.
And there’s certainly an astonishing amount of choice in the range, with no less than 38 variants, thanks to what Jaguar calls its 'Ultimate Customer Choice', which allows you to build any kind of E-Pace you fancy.
Spec levels range through S, SE, HSE and R-Dynamic, and you can have each of those with your choice of five different engines, three diesels and two petrols - the D150, D180 D240, P250 and P300.
All E-Paces sold in Australia are fitted with all-wheel drive, despite European models offering a front-drive only option.
In Australia, the company says it will be competing aggressively in the $50,000-$70,000 price range and pin points its $62,430, D180 SE model as where its volume, and its conquest sales, will come from.
Early adopters, though, might be tempted by the First Edition, which will only be available for the first model year and comes with all sorts of temping goodies at a price of $80,952 for the D180 or $84,370 for the P250 version.
The First Edition gets spiffy 'Caldera Red' paint, 20-inch 'Satin Grey Diamond Turned' finish alloy wheels, a 'Black Pack' exterior and the fixed panoramic roof, which really does improved the interior ambiance.
Inside you get special mats, branded tread plates, 'Ebony Windsor' leather and a head-up display (which really should be standard across the range, for safety’s sake, but is largely optional).
Other gimmicks include configurable ambient interior lighting, extra power sockets, the sexy 'Jaguar Activity Key' and the gesture tailgate. Overall, this does look like strikingly good value, if you’re willing to spend that much on a small SUV (it's more than 300mm shorter than an F-Pace, at 4411mm long).
In terms of standard features across all models, the list is reasonable, with classy-looking 17-inch wheels, LED lights, space saver steel spare wheel, air vents for the back seats (an absolute must for those with kids), eight-way adjustable seats, which are cloth at the bottom end, 'All Surface Progress Control' - which sounds Land Rover-like but doesn’t mean you can climb boulders - push-button start, a 10-inch 'Touch Pro' screen, which is lovely but does not offer Apple CarPlay, even as an option, and plenty of safety kit, including lane-keep assist, 'Driver Condition Monitor', Front and Rear Parking Aid and Emergency Brake Assist.
The base E-Pace, with no bling spec at all, starts at $47,750 for the showroom-bait D150 diesel, and rises to $50,150 for the D180 (you get an extra 22kW, up to just 132kW) or the same price for the P250 petrol (with 174kW).
Step up to S spec - which includes 18-inch wheels, approach lights on your door mirrors, leather seats, and 'Navigation Pro' and 'Park Assist', plus a Wi-Fi hot spot - and prices range from $55,200 for the D150 through $57,600 for the D180, $64,020 for the D240 (yet another version of the diesel) and then $57,600 for the P250 and finally the same $64,020 pricing sweet spot will get you an S spec P300, the full-fat petrol model with 221kW.
The SE - stepping up to 19-inch wheels, a powered tailgate, 14-way adjustable seats rather than just 10-way and a Meridian sound system and Adaptive Cruise Control - ranges from $60,020 to $70,265 across the same models, while the (almost) top-line HSE (with lashings of leather and colourful stitching, plus 20-inch wheels and a 12.3-inch Driver Display) starts at $65,590 for the D150 (and honestly, who’s going to go for the top spec with the least-wondrous engine, honestly?) up to $77,493 for the P300.
The final choice, for extra icing on your icing, comes with the R-Dynamic pack, which you can add to your base model, or your S, SE or HSE, for around $4500 a throw, offering a range of $52,550 to $83,733.
In proper European gouge style, there are plenty of options as well, including heated and cooled seats that can cost up to $1870, and leather packages that can cost north of $8000, red brake callipers for $660 and a whopping $430 for a DAB radio, or the panoramic roof for $2160. Even keyless entry can set you back $950.
Not offering CarPlay is a mysterious and annoying omission in a brand-new model, but overall there is value to be found in the range, or you can spend yourself silly if you still want to pay $100K plus for your Jaag, but you want a small SUV.
Volvo XC90
You have a choice of three XC90s – a diesel, petrol and electric/petrol hybrid – each available in three trim levels.
With a price tag over $120,000, our hybrid Inscription will take more than spare change to own but does come with a fairly generous inclusions list.
Standard fare features seven seats, tri-zone climate control, 9.0-inch tablet-style multimedia colour touchscreen with 12.3-inch digital driver display, Bluetooth connectivity, USB ports and 12 volt connections, auto lights and wipers, powered tailgate, reverse camera and sensors and an impressive suite of safety systems.
Our car was also equipped with a $3000 'Technology Pack' (Apple CarPlay, 360-degree camera, head-up display, DAB radio tuner) and the $8000 'Premium Pack' with Bowers & Wilkins audio, air suspension and heated seats for front and middle row passengers.
Am I the only one thinking it's a bit stingy to expect you to hand over more for these features in car that already costs in excess of $100,000?
Under the bonnet
Jaguar E-Pace8/10
Truly, it is amazing what feats the modern 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine is capable of, and the more expensive choices out of the E-Pace’s five offerings really do perform wonders, particularly considering the weight they have to haul.
There’s slightly less excitement at the bottom end, though, as you’d expect, with the 2.0-litre Ingenium D150 diesel making 110kW at 3500rpm and 380Nm at 1750rpm, and taking a leisurely 10-seconds plus to accelerate from 0-100km/h.
The D180 gets 132kW at 4000rpm, and 420Nm at 1750rpm, and runs 0-100km/h in a still sluggish 9.3 seconds.
The D240 makes 177kW at 4000 rpm and 500Nm at 1500rpm, and is far more fun, with a 0-100km/h time of 7.4 seconds, and plenty of grunt down low.
The two 2.0-litre Ingenium petrol turbo units offer 183kW at 5500rpm and 365Nm for the basic P250, or 221kW at 5500rpm and 400Nm, available between 1500 and 4500rpm, for the top-spec P300, the fastest thing in the range at just 6.4 seconds 0-100km/h.
All E-Paces are fitted with a slick-shifting nine-speed automatic, which makes changing gears manually annoying. Only the R-Dynamic offers shift paddles.
Volvo XC90
Naturally, there is much to be said about a V8 engine, as available in previous XC90s; superlatives in the main, but the combination 'twin-charged' four in our T8 is hardly struggling for words of praise either, especially from buyers who are not only environmentally aware but have the means to add action to ideology.
This plug-in hybrid is powered by a supercharged and turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that delivers 235kW/400Nm to the front wheels, blended with a twin-battery 65kW/240Nm electric motor on the rear axle, that improves the economy and range of Volvo’s signature offering.
They can be used alone or in combination, with the torque figures and actual performance varying accordingly. Volvo suggests that on electric power only, you would be good for 30km, perfect for average city commutes, although we couldn’t muster more than 24km during our test week.
A charging connector that suits most household power sockets is a handy advantage, meaning you can recharge in your garage, or at work – anywhere really, that you can sidle up to an electric socket. Charge time is usually around four hours.
The 2.0-litre petrol engine with its turbocharger, and supercharger, and of course superpowers (made that last one up), is a handy unit given the XC90’s bulk, and has a willing accomplice in form of a silky smooth eight-speed transmission.
Efficiency
Jaguar E-Pace8/10
Obviously, running such small engines is a move aimed at fuel economy, so you’d expect the figures to be good, but imagine if the E-Pace was some 400kg lighter, like an Audi Q3 is, how much better the figures could have been.
Still, a claimed 5.6 litres per 100km for the two base diesels, and 7.7 for the perkier and petrol powered P250 is pretty good going. The top diesel D240 can give you 6.2L/100km and you’d still be pretty happy with an 8.0L/100km return from the P300, if you ever managed such a figure, which we seriously doubt.
We averaged closer to double figures in all the variants we drove (albeit enthusiastically).
The CO2 outputs range from 147g/km for the bottom two diesels, stepping up to 162g/km for the D240 and 174 and 181g/km respectively for the two petrols.
Volvo XC90
Well, technically, in automatic hybrid mode you should be, if official figures are to be relied upon, returning figures of 2.1L/100km.
Real life rarely works like that though, with our readings closer to 7.6L/100km. Still credible for a 2.3 tonne SUV, although interestingly, we managed 6.0L/100km in the 2.0-litre diesel.
Driving
Jaguar E-Pace8/10
The good news is there’s plenty of genuine Jaguar in the way the car feels to drive, up to a point.
Through long sweeping bends of the medium to high-speed variety, it is great, fluid fun, with minimal body roll, and properly involving, muscular steering.
You can actually feel you’re in a car that’s related to the hugely enjoyable and tough-feeling F-Type. Turn-in is crisp and involving and the front-end set-up feels as sporty as Jaguar people enthusiastically suggest it will be.
And then you arrive, quite quickly, at a 35km/h-marked corner, throw it in and remember that you’re not sitting with your bum anywhere near the ground, and you are piloting a top-heavy machine that weighs nearly two tonnes.
At this point you will get a mild scare, but even then the Jaguar doesn't really misbehave, it simply puts you back in your box and reminds you that a sports car, this is not.
The E-Pace really is a surprisingly heavy vehicle, though, and while that weight can feel like solidity and premium quality while you’re cruising along, it does dull the driving experience on a twisty road.
With diesel-engined cars weighing “from” 1936kg and petrol-engined versions just slightly less, the E-Pace not only weighs in significantly heavier than competitors like Audi’s Q3 or BMW’s X2, it’s actually heavier than its big brother, the F-Pace, despite being a lot smaller (4731 mm vs 4411mm overall length).
The reason is that, while the F-Pace is made of expensive aluminium, the smaller Jag is built on a more steel-heavy platform, a revised version of the architecture Range Rover’s Evoque sits on.
Jaguar says the E-Pace platform is all-new from the firewall forward, so it can have more Jag-like handling, but the decision to share an older design rather than giving it new, lightweight underpinnings of its own is yet another case of saving on cost to get the price tag down.
As sporty as the performance of the up-spec engines is, it’s interesting to wonder just how much better this car might be if it was shaved of 200kg or even 400kg, of weight.
The fact is the E-Pace is not really about being sporty, it’s about stretching the Jag brand as far as possible. If it feels and looks like a Jaguar, and a lot more people can afford one, then genuine sportiness really won’t matter.
For all that, Jag has genuinely managed to engineer in enough Jaguar DNA, particularly in the steering department, to please customers.
On the downside, the ride is unfortunately jiggly and jarring on our rough and broken Aussie roads, particularly if you spec the larger and more attractive 19-, 20- or 21-inch wheels rather than the more sensible standard 17s. And there is quite a bit of tyre roar on coarse-chip surfaces.
The top-spec diesel is meaty and pleasant to use and manages to sound enthusiastic under strain, only becoming slightly clattery at low throttle openings in traffic.
The only time you really notice it’s an oil-burner, however, is when the start-stop system kicks the engine back into life with a cough and a splutter.
Slip down the diesel engine range, however, and the weight-versus-performance equation becomes more noticeable. The base diesel is a bit of a slug, with a 0-100km/h time on the wrong side of 10 seconds, and seems to pause and take a deep breath each time you apply the throttle, or at the base of a hill. Those using the E-Pace for the school run probably won’t mind.
The top-spec petrol engine is, not surprisingly, the pick of the bunch; willing to rev and genuinely quite remarkable when you consider that it is merely a four-cylinder 2.0-litre unit that’s being asked to haul around more than two tonnes of machine and human.
It’s fair to say that, being the hardest working four-cylinders in show business, they sound like they’re straining at high revs rather than having a good time.
It should also be noted that there is absolutely none of the traditional Jaguar growling or howling to be found in the E-Pace.
Volvo XC90
Thanks to semi-autonomous technology, this XC90 can pretty much drive itself, although taking your hands off the steering wheel for more than 20 seconds will very quickly remind you of the law.
So, provided you touch the steering at those regular intervals and the road is clearly marked, this car can stay within its lane in city confines, follow confidently behind the car in front, braking, accelerating and stopping when necessary.
It is less confident on narrower poorly marked or inconsistently edged roads, but that doesn’t detract from the wow factor, and in all honesty has more to do with our infrastructure problems than Volvo’s technical wizardry.
The thing is that even though this car can carry out most of the mundane functions of driving, it has such a sense of ease about it that you will want to drive yourself.
In slow, stop-start city commuting the electric engine comes into its own, allowing you to shuffle along without troubling its petrol wing man. You have to remember to recharge when you get to the office or back from the school run, however, or it sort of defeats the purpose.
The petrol unit, with a more than competent eight-speed transmission to facilitate performance, sticks fastidiously to the task, although it can sometimes feel a tad lethargic.
It is hard to find fault with the petrol and electric engines working in unison, a combined peak torque of 640Nm giving you all the oomph you need.
The twin engine XC90 is nicely balanced, easy to manoeuvre and an excellent cruiser. You can occasionally feel its weight around tight corners but that is to be expected.
The brakes took a bit of getting used to as the car initially uses regenerative braking to capture energy, but then stops quickly as speed drops. It's a bit of a surprise, but easy enough to accommodate.
Safety
Jaguar E-Pace8/10
It seems fair to give extra points to a car that cares about pedestrians, particularly after the autonomous Uber accident, so hats off to the E-Pace for its class-leading pedestrian airbag system, which pops out of the trailing edge of the bonnet to protect slow-moving humans.
Jaguar also combines its blind-spot monitor and its lane-keep assist to come up with something called 'Blind Spot Assist', which will help to prevent you from sideswiping motorcyclists, using flashing lights and corrective steering. Handy. Sadly it's not standard, but it can be had as part of a $1020 'Drive Pack'.
The E-Pace is yet to be crash tested by local authorities, but offers an “optimised body structure” to help it “exceed all safety standards worldwide”.
Six airbags are standard, and there are two ISOFIX points.
In active-safety terms, the E-Pace has Emergency Braking tech, with pedestrian detection, which will first prime the brakes after identifying danger, and then activate them if you don’t.
Volvo XC90
It is no secret that safety features are one of the foundations of the Volvo ethos. It was after all Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin who invented the three-point seat belt in 1959 which turned out to be the most important safety device ever created.
Instead of cashing in on the patent, and in keeping with their guiding principle of safety, Volvo shared it with other car manufacturers which has of course resulted in untold lives being saved.
This XC90 boasts other marvellous safety inventions, including blind spot monitoring, lane departure warning, AEB, pedestrian detection and a rear collision system. An extra $2600 will give you the 'Intellisafe' system which includes adaptive cruise control, semi-autonomous 'Pilot Assist' and lane keeping assist.
Ownership
Jaguar E-Pace7/10
Jaguar's new E-Pace comes with a three-year/100,000km warranty, which is okay, but not quite the full Kia seven-year deal. It does however, include paint and a six-year anti-corrosion warranty.
A servicing plan is available at a cost of $1500 for five years. Service intervals are 12 months/26,000km for diesel engines or 24 months/34,000km for petrol models.
Volvo XC90
Warranty is three year/unlimited kilometres with free roadside assist for that period.
A 'SmartCare' service program gives you fixed-price servicing for up to five years/75,000km for $4075.