Forgot About My Porsche
There has been two stories n the news this week about celebrities or the stupidly rich losing their cars or even forgetting they owned it. Jenson Button, the 2009 Formula 1 World Champion's father John Button and Stoke City footballer Jermaine Pennant are the culprits. John Button "misplaced" his Ferrari 550 in the Italian Riviera, the police had to find it for him. John Button is getting on a bit now, so I can almost forgive him and to be honest we've all lost our cars in multi storey car parks before. Jermaine Pennant on the other hand completely forgot he left his 98,000 Porsche parked in a Spanish train station for five months. He had purchased the Porsche while playing for Spanish side Real Zaragoza, since this revelation Pennant has denied owning the car; only thing is the car's number plate reads "P33NNT". I wish I had the financial might to forget about cars worth the same as some houses. My friend once thought his car was stolen, he reported it to the police, and they found it parked down the road - where he had left it the night before!
You can get adaptive dampers as part of the 拢1,185 Adaptive Dynamics option pack, while the cabin is fairly familiar. This means solid enough build and material quality, even if it鈥檚 not up to the Porsche鈥檚 high standards. There are a few ergonomic foibles, too, although the F-Pace has benefited from updated infotainment because it has been improved with each model year. It now boasts greater connectivity and a more responsive set-up, but remember that the Macan has been improved in this area as well. Unlike with the Porsche, heated leather seats are standard-fit here, while nav, parking sensors and a reversing camera (an option on the Macan) are included, too. You can also add to that tally a powered tailgate to match the Porsche鈥檚, plus cruise and climate control, and some decent safety tech. Yet while the Jaguar offers slightly more kit for a bit less cash, there鈥檚 still something about it that seems cheaper.
It鈥檚 not as solid and quality isn鈥檛 as impressive, plus it doesn鈥檛 feel as functional or hi-tech. Nevertheless, the Jag still drives sweetly, and that comes from its meaty steering and compliant chassis. Its steering is direct, while plenty of grip means the F-Pace turns with rewarding dynamism. It鈥檚 tempered slightly by a degree of slack in the suspension from which the Porsche doesn鈥檛 suffer, though. That makes the Macan firmer, while the Jaguar will track over some surfaces with its dampers being only mildly ruffled by the road. The Porsche鈥檚 would be rather more upset in the same circumstances. Despite the weight, the steering is not quite as nice as the Macan鈥檚, and the four-wheel-drive system isn鈥檛 as responsive. It simply doesn鈥檛 feel as quick to react or as clever when it鈥檚 shuffling power around. Nor does the Jaguar have as much grip. Ultimately, the Macan is the more enjoyable and engaging car to drive, and the advantage in this area is much greater than the slight drawback in comfort. Where the Jaguar can鈥檛 hold a candle to the Porsche is with its engine.
The unit feels more lethargic and doesn鈥檛 rev with the same aggression, and nor does it boast the same rounded refinement as the Macan鈥檚. The gearbox, too, is more sluggish to shift than the Porsche鈥檚. Upchanges feel slow and downshifts more laboured, which was part of the reason why the Jag was two seconds slower from 0-60mph on test, taking 8.1 seconds. It also trailed its rival by 2.6 seconds going from 30-70mph through the gears, at 8.8 seconds. The F-Pace is characterised by a slightly softer focus to the ride and handling balance, which is rewarding. But there鈥檚 no getting away from the fact that the powertrain is a letdown. The Jaguar recovers well in this area, because its 650-litre boot space is 150 litres up on the Macan鈥檚, and it offers as much luggage room as a BMW X5 from the class above. In fact, the F-Pace sits in a gap between the Porsche and BMW when it comes to size, because it offers slightly more cabin space than the Macan, too.
However, luggage and passenger room in the Porsche is far from pokey, and should be sufficient for most buyers most of the time; it鈥檚 just that the F-Pace can go the extra mile when you need it to. Elsewhere in the cabin there are places for drinks and possessions, plus USB points to charge gadgets. The driving position feels even loftier than in the Porsche, where you sit more 鈥榠n鈥?the car than perched on the seat. This gives the F-Pace great visibility out. A shortage of owner respondents meant Porsche didn鈥檛 rank in our Driver Power 2018 poll, but Jaguar was 10th out of 26 in the makers鈥?chart, a solid result for the brand. It scored well for ride and handling, as well as safety. The F-Pace gets a full five-star Euro NCAP rating, with six airbags, lane-keep assist and autonomous braking all fitted as standard. You can add blind-spot warning as part of a 拢1,350 option pack, which also brings adaptive cruise control and raises the top speed at which the emergency braking works. It鈥檚 no surprise that, with strong performance and big, heavy bodies, both of these cars returned only average fuel economy.