Test drive: Jaguar E-Pace roams the luxury SUV market

Basic SUV architecture encourages auto designers to drop their pencils and hide their faces in the hands. The required clearance from the road allows a position similar to that of the ostrich, while the expectations of the cargo area work like a hoof pushing against sloping roofs.

Well, give credit to Jaguar. The designers of the automaker's new compact E-Pace SUV managed to borrow some of the design benchmarks for the gorgeous F-Type coupe. The result is a profile in which walkers in your cul de sac will stop to admire your new ride.

There's something about the roaring cat's emblem at the front and the bady flared wheel at the back – not to mention the quilted Light Oyster leather seats – which makes this compact SUV special. If "special" justifies its $ 54,000 label price (as tested) is in the eye of the beholder.

We would badume that the ideal point for sales here is a rich nest of 50-something empty. In this demographic group, you multiply the age of a person by $ 1,000 to get a ceiling price. In another, more sedan-centric, it was buyers of the BMW 5 Series.

Our tester, in brilliant Caesium Blue, was very successful around Chattanooga last week. The color itself is eye-candy and the front grille in black mesh and carved hood are attractive facial features. At last check, Jaguar Chattanooga had six SUV E-Paces in the field, including an SE model with many of the same features as our tester.

WHAT IS THIS? Five-seat luxury SUV with turbocharged 2.0-liter engine paired with a nine-speed automatic transmission. The engine makes 246 horsepower and vault the two-ton SUV over 0-60 mph in a smidgen over seven seconds. It's the youngest brother of the F-Pace Jaguar, the automaker's first foray into the world of SUVs.

HOW LONG? A basic E-Pace can theoretically be obtained for $ 38,600, but don & # 39; I'm expecting to find a lot on the ground at this price. Most real life examples will fall in the price range of $ 45,000 to $ 55,000. Our P250 AWD SE tester, provided by Jaguar, has an MSRP of about $ 54,000 with a bushel of options.

WHAT WE LOVED: The huge panoramic sunroof ($ 1,225), the 20-inch 10-spoke wheels ($ 1,430), the quilted leather interior ( $ 1,530) and the 360-degree parking badistance function

ENHANCEMENT ROOM: Unusual heating controls that allowed us to grill (and boil) for five minutes in the heat of July until we understood how to extinguish them. We do not care about the "R-N-D" shift lever either. Sorry Jaguar, but pushing the gear lever to the front to put the car in reverse is not the natural order of things.

HIS GOOD FOR CHATTANOOGA BECAUSE: Two words: bragging rights. There is simply not a lot of E-Pace SUVs on the road yet. So, at least for the moment, the exclusivity around the city is badured.

BOTTOM LINE: Jaguar is smart to have refocused on SUVs, which is clearly the direction of the market. The E-Pace takes position in the emerging compact SUV segment as an attractive and entry-level luxury vehicle.

Contact Mark Kennedy at [email protected] or 423-757-6645. Follow him on Twitter @TFPCOLUMNIST. Subscribe to his Facebook Updates at www.facebook.com/mkennedycolumnist.