The
2017 Jaguar F-Pace fits right into
the middle of one very important luxury-crossover battleground that now
includes just-right mid-sizers like the Mercedes-Benz GLC, BMW X3, Cadillac
XT5. and even the Lexus RX 350.
Yet what makes this luxury vehicle quite different is that it
neither starts as an existing car that’s been made more rugged nor a
rugged vehicle that’s been given more carlike attributes.
In short, the F-Pace is what it is, and it was created as a
vehicle that feels like a sports car inside, yet has some of that additional
capability on the outside.
The brand has gone so far as to market this model as “the
ultimate practical Jaguar sports car.”
Earlier this fall, at the
Frankfurt Auto Show, we caught up with Jaguar
Cars Design Director Ian Callum about what makes this model from the British
luxury maker different than the rest of the rivals from Germany, Japan, and the
U.S.
Callum, who can be credited with the more modern look of
Jaguar that the brand has developed over the past decade, with models like the
XF and XJ sedans, and then the F-Type sports car, appreciates simplicity and
elegance. It speaks volumes that, unlike many designers, Callum doesn’t dream
of the day when instrument panels have been retired for touch screen; he’s
a big proponent of simple functionality, in physical buttons and tactile
switchgear.
From our walkaround and chat, here are some Q&A insights
from Callum on why the F-Pace looks the way it does, and how this model fits
right in as a Jaguar.
You’ve said in the past that an SUV wouldn’t be a good fit
for Jag. What makes it different now?
The first time I was asked was 16 years ago. My answer was
no, we have other things to do that were more important to me. We have to build
a sedan range, we have to fix the family, and we have to build a sports car
range. We had lots of things to do... so it wasn’t a priority. And then as the
years went by and we fixed the priorities, we got that right and the world was
telling us on no uncertain terms this is what they wanted—especially in the
U.S. and China, where in the next two years this segment is expected to grow
another 40 percent.
So not to be in this sector would be a little naive, for the
sake of purity. But once we got the notion that we had to do this, we did it in
a manner that suited us—as opposed to something that felt like just another
truck, rather something that feels like a Jaguar—that has a svelteness, a
romanticism, and an elegance to it.
Dealing with these proportions, that’s not an easy thing to
do. It runs against you all the time. I’m happy when I see this car on the
road, I know it’s not an F-Type, but it feels very much in the family. And that
was deliberate; you see F-Type cues all over it.
The F-Pace uses a completely new platform. Why this
packaging and this size?
The nice thing is that it was a blank sheet of paper. We
didn’t have a given platform or floorpan to work on. We didn’t have a wheelbase
or track to work on. We sat down with the first principles, and amongst us, the
engineering team and myself, we worked out what we wanted out of this car
dimensionally, and how the wheels would sit. And how the car would generally
look. We’ve never had that before.
It was a great opportunity to do exactly what we needed to
do. Our mission was to create something that was clearly packaged a certain
size—the dimensions of the car were something we all agreed upon—and my mission
was to create the most elegant SUV I possibly could, given those dimensions. As
I said to the design team, we’re not going to negotiate those dimensions—we
often do on sedans, and especially sports cars, because our mission is to get
everything right. But we had to meet particular dimensions, that’s what these
cars are like.
The F-Pace is less rugged-looking than most utility
vehicles. Is this to help differentiate it from Land Rover?
It wasn’t the intent. The intent was to make it look like a
Jag. And if the consequence of that is that it doesn’t look so rugged, then so
be it. But I think it looks quite tough.
The primary attribute of this car is really on the road use.
I’m sure it’s very capable off-road—in fact I know it is. But it’s not the way
we want to pitch this; we want to pitch the car as most sport utility vehicles
are driven, in urban situations.
Primarily it has to be elegant. It has to have a sense of
beauty about it. The proportions are challenging, because beauty’s usually
about lowness and sleekness, but we’ve transferred that to something that’s a
bit more utilitarian, a bit more practical. And packaging this car... you can’t
deny it, it’s something that has to be done. It’s not like packaging a two-seater
sports car.
The sheetmetal is remarkably smooth and uninterrupted. Are
the aggressive sculpting and creasing on some models' side sheetmetal things
that you find unattractive, or just not Jaguar?
It’s not Jaguar; I think it’s unattractive, and it’s
confusing. What I try to do is create lines and forms that people can
understand easily.
Some cars I look at and think there are so many lines in
them you don’t know where the emphasis is anymore. If you can confuse them with
other ones, you just diluteq the strength...of the design, the car, the marque.
Every new line has to complement the other one rather than destroy it.
I look at a lot of cars and think that there are lots of
lines here, I don’t know what the focal point is. And I do believe here I have
a focal point; it’s in the creases and the haunches and the surfacing. You know
a lot of young guys in the business add a lot of lines to the cars. It’s my job
to say, “That one’s good; take the other ones off.” Maybe I’m just
old-fashioned, maybe they think the same as well.
Were floating rooflines, added trim, or vertical air
extracts considered?
A Jaguar’s about the whole shape. You introduce a floating
roof and it becomes something different. We had a bit of a floating
roofline—cantilevered roofline, we called it—on the XJ. But there’s no way I’d
consider blacked out pillars in the front or anything like that; that’s very
much Land Rover’s.
That movement between the wheel and body is very important. The
relationship to the body is very important, in terms of width to the outside of
the car. We also make sure that the overall diameter of the tire is kept as
close as possible between wheels. Of course the advantage is that when we get
to 22s it looks phenomenal. But if you want 20s with more rubber it looks just
as good, in proportions.
We just decided with this range of cars we’d have a
horizontal vent. Possibly because there’s this much room between the wheel arch
and the door. And here the reason for horizontal, actually, was that we wanted
to bring forth this line on the door—like F-type—it needs a starting point, it
needs a reason to be. We’ve also gone to horizontal air extracts in the XE and
XF. Primarily they’re there for beauty reasons, but they do actually function
as well; it helps compensate for the corner not being square.
Did you develop the sound of the car as you developed its
form and driving character, as was the case for the F-Type?
We did...we did on an everyday basis. The F-Type is the
first investigation of this; you see an F-Type, you think you’d better get a
great sound out of this—and you do. The chief program engineer for
F-Pace...their want was that the sound of the car was interesting enough.
Though the first prototypes of this car were a lot louder.
And we realized for people sitting in the back of the car it might be a little
too much. So we have actually toned it down.
Tell us what you’ve done with the interior and materials to
make the F-Pace feel more like a Jaguar than just another SUV.
One thing we did do was to keep the center console at a
pretty high level. Although it’s a command position—you’re sitting higher than
you are in a car—I still wanted people to feel like they were sitting inside a
car rather than an SUV. The center console’s rather high, so you feel cosseted
by it. I feel that’s important—it’s a subtle thing—but you do still feel like
you’re in a car, although the visual lines are better than they are in a
standard car.
The wood alternative is available for customers who want it,
but I’m quite keen especially in the XF that we have a metal-finish dashboard.
I just think it looks more technically correct. It makes that technical
sophistication a lot easier to express. It modernizes. The main thing for me is
that we’re capturing some of that sportiness. The F-Type doesn’t have any wood
in it, and neither did the E-type. But we do offer wood—you can have it; it
wouldn’t be my choice.
source: http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1101166_2017-jaguar-f-pace-design-chief-on-why-suv-fits-right-in-with-f-type
by Bengt Halvorson
http://www.boscheuropean.com
