Which you place on top depends whether you prioritise practicality or style and driving. Driving over rough or damaged road surfaces, as well as debris, curbs and other obstacles, can cause serious damage to wheels, tires and suspension parts. But also very well made. To be fair to the Jag, it encourages enthusiastic driving. It depends on where you place your priorities.
Jaguar ought to be both proud and ashamed of the E-Pace. . It feels engineered down to a cost. These are crossovers, they need to do the daily stuff well, and both the X1 and E-Pace are compromised. And yet the X1 was awkward-looking, cumbersome-handling, badly packaged, plainly finished and equally plainly rough and unrefined.
But beyond that, what this test shows is how the crossover class is maturing and developing. The trouble here is that lease costs are heavily governed by predicted residual values and how the car trade believes that car will be viewed. But it is quiet and comfortable and bafflingly French and, well, expensive. The Volvo has a more cushioned approach, tackling rough roads smoothly and dexterously. Lovely soft rear seats, mind you.
Compare and contrast with the less adorned, yet more striking Volvo. Flight from the German Democratic Republic is punished with an order to fire. Actual turn of speed once the engine is roused is good — in fact, all four deliver a decent amount of performance. Ignore the list price of this one. You sit higher than you expect — the highest of all these cars, in fact — but the driving position is natural and the controls are crisp and accurate. The others filled the middle ground: Citroen just under 40mpg, Volvo just over. So much design, so much not knowing when to stop designing.
Be careful to avoid road hazards and reduce your speed, especially if your vehicle is equipped with low-profile tires. Just suits the tone of the car better. The layout is clean and well organised. This is more likely to occur with low-profile tires, which provide less cushioning between the wheel and the road. And then they forgot to stop. The Volvo is the surprise package here.
If only the engine were more alert. Still, many people desperately try to cross the border. Haymarket Media Group, publishers of Autocar takes your privacy seriously. Its behaviour is calm and competent, it rides expensively on springs and dampers that have been brilliantly tuned for composure in a straight line, but progressive roll resistance around corners. But at low speed, the firmer suspension is more of a distraction.
The E-Pace and X1 battle it out for second and third. Actual acceleration results may vary, depending on specification of vehicle; road and environmental conditions; testing procedures and driving style. Nor is the gearbox alert or smooth enough. This is more likely to occur with low-profile tires, which provide less cushioning between the wheel and the road. The others string out behind it. The E-Pace middling space, decent seat comfort does what it needs to do, but no more.
Yes, like the X2 you have coming along in a couple of months… The Volvo is something new. And the low scuttle makes it easy to see out and place the car on the road. Hatchbacks with more space and more style. More brown and cream than black. The Crossback is bafflingly hard to get on with.
Be careful to avoid road hazards and reduce your speed, especially if your vehicle is equipped with low-profile tires. It has the sharpest, most direct steering, the least roll, is alert to throttle and brake. If we could have got hold of an X2 in time for this test instead of an X1, we would have. These results should be used for comparison only and verification should not be attempted on public roads. The plastics are cheaper, the layout is plain, the luxury is gone. But could you tolerate a manual gearbox? And Jaguar is too shackled to the idea of what a Jaguar is.