2021 Jaguar F-Pace hides big interior and powertrain changes under familiar sheetmetal

Jaguar's first-ever crossover is getting a major update. The 2021 Jaguar F-Pace, while looking not much different on the outside, is hiding an all-new interior as well as new engines.

The changes to the exterior are quite mild, rather like those of the F-Type. Headlights and taillights are more slender, with the tails losing their little rounded sections altogether. The grille and diffuser areas of the bumpers have been slightly changed, and the main grille gets different inserts on all trims. The fender vents now get the "Leaper," the cat logo, embedded in them.

Under the hood are two types of engines. There's the familiar turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder at the base of the range with 246 horsepower and 269 pound-feet of torque. Above that are two versions of the new inline-six-cylinder engine, both of which use a regular turbocharger and an electric supercharger. The less-potent version makes 335 horsepower and 354 pound-feet of torque, while the high-output version makes 395 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque. Each engine also gets a belt-driven starter-generator powered by the same 48-volt electrical system that drives the electric supercharger. All engines are coupled to an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission and rear-biased all-wheel-drive system.

The interior gets the most immediately noticeable changes. The curvy, rounded dash of the outgoing model is replaced with a more crisp design with better-integrated air vents and large sections of contrasting leather and other accents such as metal or wood trim. An available 11.4-inch infotainment screen dominates the center stack, and it runs the new Pivi Pro infotainment system launched on the Land Rover Defender and the Jaguar I-Pace. This infotainment system can support pairing two phones at once and can receive over-the-air updates. The instrument cluster is available as a 12.3-inch screen that can be configured to show an array of different information including navigation info. The old shifter dial is replaced with a small leather and metal shift lever.

Jaguar is also including more features as standard in the F-Pace. Among them are heated seats, a Meridian sound system, keyless entry, blind-spot monitoring and a surround-view camera. Active noise cancellation is also standard and a first on a Jaguar.

Pricing and the on-sale date for the new F-Pace have not yet been announced.

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