FAMILY CAR REVIEW: 2018 JAGUAR F-PACE

With the boot of the F-Pace empty, I could fit 13 shopping bags in it with a small space left for a lunch box or ball in the indent on the left-hand side.

The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.

Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.

I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.

With the Mountain Buggy Duet in the boot, I could get six shopping bags in alongside it. The Duet fitted in really nicely to fill the length of the boot space leaving a rectangle of storage space beside it.

With the Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle pram in the boot lengthways I could fit seven shopping bags in alongside it.

The Mountain Buggy Nano stroller fits in the boot lying down with 10 shopping bags around it. You could, however, put the Nano in the foot well in front of a rear facing child seat inside the car and use all your boot space.

The boot of the Jaguar F-Pace is a nice flat, carpeted square shape with a spare wheel underneath the boot floor. There are four anchor points for a cargo net on the floor and two hooks on either side of the boot walls for securing bags too. There is a 12V socket on the right-hand side and a little light on either side that come on automatically as well as a lever on either side to collapse the rear seats. The parcel shelf is solid, not a retractable blind, removable for taking a dog (for example) in the boot. The F-Pace boot would be big enough for a medium-sized dog to travel with the parcel shelf removed.

Inside, storage is tight, so the F-Pace definitely doesn’t hold the family SUV load that you would hope for. There are two cup holders in the central console; a good size for a travel or disposable coffee cup and a 600ml water bottle fitted in there too.

The door pockets in the front I found rather odd in size and shape, although they would hold a large refillable water bottle. But I found it had to be at exactly the right angle or any bump in the road or braking and the bottle would slide around! My wallet fitted in too, and an iPad. The front door pockets are large but not very practical and the disappointingly cheap feeling plastics they are made from add to their slipperiness.

The central console storage box lid doubles as an armrest but is rather small, so not very practical and the space inside the box is very small! It is felt lined so anything in there wouldn’t make a noise. There is a 12v socket inside and two USB sockets, an HDMI socket and a SIM card socket to give the car its own phone signal?!

Space is not generous in the glove box either! I could get my wallet in with the manual but there wasn’t room for much more!

The central console is a wide flat area with a faux wooden panel and a round gear knob that retracts flush with the surface when you turn the engine off and rises up when you turn the engine on. I found over the week we had it, this surface became a dumping ground for all the things there wasn’t a real space for anywhere else in the cab and you couldn’t see what gear you were putting it in!! In front of the gear knob is a rubber pad that would be useful for resting your phone in, as it wouldn’t slide about. However, everything that had come to rest in this area slid around on the shiny faux wood panel!

On either side of the console by your knee is another storage crevice! Also rubber based.

There is a glasses case in the ceiling with foam to protect your lenses.

There are no storage wells in the front doors but there are in the back doors, they are nice and long so useful for popping little bits in from the kid's hands when putting them in and out of the car but they are such cheap black plastic and feel like a really naff afterthought!

In the back there are half net map pockets on the back of both seats, deep enough to hold an iPad but no good for concealing it.

There is a fold down armrest in the central seatback with two cup holders in and the door pockets are quite large too.

There is a volume/mute button for the parking sensor volume in the F-Pace, on the media screen alongside the image but when you press it, it just turns the volume down a notch and when you press it again, turns it back to the original louder volume, rather than off! I found it could not be fully muted.

The rear camera in the F-Pace does have a clear image and has two viewing options wide or narrow view, though I did find the display felt a little small for the size of vehicle.

The lane departure made no noise; instead, it shakes the steering wheel so violently that I thought there was something wrong with the car! It would definitely disturb other passengers!

Indicators in the F-Pace do not have a loud sound, they aren’t adjustable but I didn’t find that they disturbed my sleeping daughter.

I was able to turn the Sat Nav voice off and on easily in the screen menu settings, and another good feature was the directions would come up in the head up display in front of me making them easier to follow so I didn’t have to keep looking down at the screen.

The media screen in the F-Pace I found quite easy to navigate, but it does have awful Google image style icons, which are a bit bad taste! Also NO Apple CarPlay!?! In a car of this budget I am not sure I could look past that!

The F-Pace windows are quite quiet to open and close and have a smooth motion. The window controls are positioned separately to the door and seat controls up on top of the door panels. Which I imagine you would get used to but just felt counter intuitive the week I had with the F-Pace.

You can lock both the doors and windows from the drivers’ door.

Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!

That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.

If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?

It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?

A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.

Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!

I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.

One thing that really annoyed me over the week with the F-Pace was the doors have an annoying beeping alarm when you open them. Which on more than one occasion woke our daughter! If you come to a stop with the engine on and open the driver’s door an alarm sounds. It isn’t shrill but has definite baby waking potential!

To stop it you have to shut the door or the driver has to press the ‘okay’ button on the steering wheel!!

I did notice this on many occasions in the F-Pace, when an alarm would sound, then on the left in the digital display it would tell you what the alarm was for and ask you to press okay on the steering wheel!! Which I did find rather frustrating and just another thing to have to check on!

An alarm does sound when a seatbelt is removed when driving and an image is displayed on the dashboard digital display so you can see which one it is.

There is auto engine cut out in the F-Pace and the button to turn it off is on the flat surface of the central console.

Road and engine noise was good over the week driving the F-Pace, there was nothing to stand out it was quite quiet in that sense.

The F-Pace is a five seater and one I found you can actually fit five people in with or without child seats!! Hurrah!!

There are three top tether points in the back of the seat backs accessible from the boot or by bringing the seatbacks forward. There is ISOFix in both the rear outer seats, these have plastic casings and were really easy to connect to.

I could fit three child seats across the back seats, which I was really surprised by! To look at I wouldn’t have thought so!

I had two Mountain Buggy Protect infant capsules in each of the outer seats (one using ISOFix and one using the seatbelt) and a Britax forward facing booster seat in between. I did need to use wedges underneath the outer capsules to level them because of the angle of the seat bases.

The back row is larger than it seems, so I was pleasantly surprised to fit the three seats in! You need to pick your child seats carefully as three wider child seats may not have fitted.

I found instillation was simple for the two outer seats, the ISOFix was very easy to connect to and reaching the top tethers was easy through the boot.

However, in the central seat the installation wasn’t as simple. Yes, the seatbelt part was easy to use and the buckle was not positioned under the seat base which is normally the case in cars, the problem arose with the central seat headrest when I went to attach the top tether, the headrest does not come up more than a couple of cms and made it really difficult to post the top tether strap under and through to the boot and almost impossible to adjust the top tether strap once you have got it connected! I am finding this to be the case in many cars I have reviewed recently. It must be the latest design at the central seat shop!!

There would be room to feed Bub in the back seat with only one child seat installed.

Posting Bub into their child seat from inside the car was okay, there was a good amount of ceiling height. From outside the car, the post was quite good too, the doorways do have a sharp angle but I didn't find it a problem.

Australia being a country of weather extremes- blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!

I found it really difficult to find a comfortable seating position in the F-Pace, in any seat!! The seats are REALLY firm and annoyingly reclined. Although I could adjust them with the electronic switches in both front seats, for me the seat bases were too long so they were always pressing into the backs of my calves and the seats always felt like I was being tipped into the back of them even when I tried raising them with the adjustment.

Also the electronic control for the seat base was really hard to use as it is annoyingly positioned below and too close to the lumbar adjustment dial! It sounds like a small detail but it really bugged me!
And I couldn’t have a ponytail in the F-Pace front seats!

I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get my ponytail just right too… said no new mum ever!!!

In the back, I also found the seats to be uncomfortable as they felt like they had a solid mound running under your thighs and were also really hard to sit on!

The rear seats are generous for space and we could fit an adult in the central seat, between two child seats and the seatbelt buckle was well positioned to not stick in your bum!

I found the cruise control in the F-Pace was shocking! I just assumed for a car of this price tag it would have excellent cruise control but I was very sadly disappointed!! On undulating roads especially it would just run away with itself going way over the limit and then at other times really lurch to stay in the set speed!

I also found the controls were not obviously marked on the steering wheel and the speed went up and down in increments of 2km/h rather than 1km/h. I found I kept pressing it too many times, as I’d forget it was changing in twos.

The fuel's distance to empty is displayed on the digital display, which is always helpful as a mum.

The distance to empty display becomes extra important as a mum because getting fuel with a baby is a whole new world of difficult. If they are screaming in the car you definitely do not want your journey prolonged with a fuel stop! If they are asleep the turning off of the engine, doors opening and locking and unlocking, then re-opening the doors and closing, starting the engine again, beepers going off because you haven’t got your seatbelt on when you start the car or because you blink in the wrong direction, do you take them out of the car when you go in to pay? If you do will you get them back in the seat again or will they have a complete meltdown and you’ll be stuck on the fuel station forecourt with a screaming baby!! Hopefully you are starting to gather the anxiety that what was once a simple fuel stop can be for a mum!!!!

For this reason the distance to empty display can let you know if you have enough fuel to make it home with bub and then go out and get fuel another time when you will not have to take bub with you.

There are two air-con vents in the back of the central console for the rear passengers with there own controls and dual climate control in the front with two horizontal vents above the media screen on the dashboard and another at either end of the dashboard.

The air-con in the F-Pace has a big job to do. On a cloudy day it feels very powerful, cold and that it is definitely powerful enough! However on a sunny day, thanks to the enormous sunroof and only a thin net blind, it is completely useless! The air-con just cannot counteract the roasting from the ceiling above! I recently drove the Range Rover Velar which has exactly the same sunroof and blind but the interior and blind were light cream leather which I think just didn't absorb the heat in the same way?

It was a worry with kids in the back that they were going to be getting burnt as I am not sure the thin blind has any UV protection? The windows of the F-Pace I drove were not tinted either so it really is a hotbox in the Australian climate!!

The air-con controls are easy to locate, and use, positioned under the media screen on the dashboard.

Visibility out of the front is good in the F-Pace, as sitting high up in this SUV means you have the elevated seating position. With a rear facing child seat installed in the outer seats I could still see out of the side windows on the driver's side too. However, with a central booster seat, the visibility out of the rear window is quite poor and the head rests and rear pillars create large areas of blind spots.
The side mirrors I feel need to be slightly larger too; they do have blind spot warning lights in them and the left mirror automatically dips when you’re reversing so you can see the kerb, which is a nice feature!

For me the seating position made me feel like I couldn’t see the to the end of the bonnet. I had to elevate my seat so high so that I could see properly, and I found it hard to position the car in spaces without using the camera.

For rear passengers, visibility forward is quite good but rear facing the rear side pillars are wide and it feels like the side windows could be deeper.

There are lit vanity mirrors for both front seats in the blinds.

The interior lights are simple touch lights, which means you don’t have panels of switches in the ceiling, which is aesthetically way more appealing! In the back the lights are above the rear doors, behind the handles, so you can not reach to control them from the front.

I have found Tulsi does not like travelling in the dark in the car so if it gets dark whilst travelling then I reach back and turn the interior light on for her. So it’s really important for me that I can reach the rear ceiling light.

Also if I am traveling home and it is getting near to bed time and I DEFINITELY DON’T want her to fall asleep in the car as even a 5minute nap in the car means bed time is all over!!!! I lean back and pop the light on so it’s not dark and try to keep her awake!! Along with screaming/singing at the top of my voice!!!

It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.

I found the F-Pace to be a hard ride, especially around town and suburbs with speed bumps and even felt really strongly over changes in bitumen surface!

The F-Pace also has a lurching feel at times too when you are driving it which I found with the hard ride was disturbing for passengers.

When reversing I found I definitely relied on the reversing camera, the image is clear but I felt the screen needed to be bigger, you can view the camera any time using a button on the screen. The camera has guides and the reversing sensor beeping is loud but it is not a shrill sound like some are. There is a mute/volume icon on the screen but when you press it the volume only quietens, it doesn’t totally mute the sound, which I only found out after my daughter had fallen asleep!

There are well-positioned handles above both back doors that are suitable for a baby toy to hang.

The F-Pace has three 12v sockets, one in the boot, one in the central console box and one in the back of the central console storage box for the rear seats.

The interior of the model we tested was red and black leather with red stitch details and lighting piping trim around the red door leather.

The seats are perforated though and can be heated in the front using the correct page on the media screen. They are also quite heavily seamed with red contrast stitch. All of which are hard to keep clean with little ones on board as their spills and crumbs really get into perforations and seams!

The doors similarly are red leather and black plastic in the model I tested and already had marks in the red leather after just 3000km, so I think after a family had used it for a month it might look a little broken in!

There are basic floor mats throughout the F-Pace too, I just think they could have put a little more spark into them.

The 2018 F-Pace has keyless entry and the powered tailgate is quiet when you open it from the boot, using the key and the button in the cab. This is a great BabyDrive feature so if bub has fallen asleep in the car you can open and close the boot without a beeping waking them!

The keyless entry takes a few presses to open all the doors! Also if you press the lock button more than once the car beeps which has baby waking potential!!