Jaguar F-Pace vs Lotus Emira

What's the difference?

The F-Pace has been gifted new styling, new engines and more practicality making it an even better SUV than it already was. You could seriously pick any of the grades and be happy with your purchase. Then there’s the question of the engine…

Jaguar says there’s a few more years left in the combustion engine yet, but we know exactly how many years – four, because the company has gone on the record announcing it will go fully electric by 2025. The question for you is – how will you ring out the end of an era – with a four-cylinder petrol, a six-cylinder turbo diesel, an inline turbo six petrol or a cracking V8? 

The sweetspot in the range is the R-Dynamic SE 400, with just enough luxury and more than enough grunt.

If this really is the final petrol-powered Lotus sports car then it’s a sad day for fans of the brand and its history. But it’s also worthy of celebration because they have made a car that is genuinely impressive.

It may not be perfect, and it will have to fight hard to lure buyers away from Porsche, BMW and co. but for anyone who enjoys a dynamic, engaging and incredibly fun sports car the Emira should be on your short-list.

Alternatively, if you’ve always dreamed of buying a traditional Lotus sports car and haven’t got around to it until now, this is your last chance so don’t wait too long.

The very first F-Pace arrived in Australia in 2016 and even after all these years and the arrival of more rivals I still think it’s the most beautiful SUV in its class. The new one seems to look a lot like the old one, but the styling updates have kept it cool.

If you want to see instantly how the design of the F-Pace has evolved from the original to the new one, be sure to watch my video above.

Short story is, this new F-Pace has been given a pretty major styling overhaul inside and out.

Gone is the old F-Pace’s plastic beak. That sounds weird but the previous F-Pace’s bonnet stopped short of the grille and a nose cone had been fitted to cover the rest of the distance. Now the new bonnet meets a larger, wider grille and its flow from the windscreen down isn’t disturbed by a large join line.

Also more pleasing to the eyes is the badge on the grille. The snarling jaguar head is now larger and no longer mounted on a terrible looking large plastic plate. The plate was for the adaptive cruise control radar sensor, but by making the Jaguar badge bigger, the plate was able to be house in the badge itself.

The headlights are slimmer, and the tail-lights have a new design which looks futuristic, but I miss the styling of the previous ones and the way they dipped into the tailgate.

Inside, the cabin has been made over with a giant landscape screen, new chunky climate control dials, a new steering wheel and the rotary shifter has been replaced by a regular upright one which is still small and compact, with cricket ball stitching. Again, take a look at the video I’ve made to see the transformation for yourself.

While all F-Paces have a similar look, the SVR is the high-performance member of the family and stands out with its giant 22-inch wheels, a tough body kit, quad tailpipes, a fixed SVR rear wing, and bonnet and fender vents.

For this update the SVR has been given a new front bumper and larger cooling vents flanking the grille. But it’s more than just tough looks, the aerodynamics have been revised to decrease lift by 35 per cent, too.

What hasn’t changed are the dimensions. The F-Pace is a mid-sized SUV measuring 4747mm end to end, standing 1664mm tall and with the mirrors out is 2175mm wide. That’s not huge, but make sure it’ll fit in your garage.

As mentioned earlier, the Emira is meant to be a bridge between Lotus’ past and its future - combining elements of its previous sports cars while also laying the visual tone for future models.

The design does a good job of that, because there’s clearly a link to the Exige and Evora of the recent past, but it also takes heavy influence from the limited-run Evija hypercar.

In turn, this new design language will spread out across the all-new electric models, including the Eletre SUV and Emeya sports sedan.

The styling does a good job of making the Emira look and feel like a premium sports car, without the need for any flashy wings or similar. It’s a simple, compact but stylish sports car.

This trend carries over to the cabin, with the more premium finish with the carpets, leather and good quality switchgear, as well as the digital instrument display and 10.2-inch multimedia touchscreen. Gone are the days of a Lotus having a minimalist, exposed aluminium interior with only the bare necessities. This is a proper premium sports car.

The F-Pace was always practical with a big 509-litre boot and great rear leg and head room for even me at 191cm tall, but the cabin re-design has added better storage and usability.

The door pockets are larger, there’s a covered area under the floating centre console and in a victory for common sense and practicality the window switches have been relocated from the window sills to the armrests.

This is along with a deep centre console storage area, and two cupholders in the front and another two in the rear fold-down armrest.

Parents will be happy to know that all F-Paces come with directional air vents in the second row as well. And there are ISOFIX outboard child-seat anchors and three top-tether restraints, too.

While it’s a more luxurious Lotus, it remains a compact and impractical sports car - and that’s very much on brand. In terms of storage inside the cabin, there are two cupholders and a small lidded console box, but the size of the cabin means everything is quite narrow and feels a little tight for space.

There is a decent sized, although not very deep, shelf behind the seats, so you can put smaller, softer items there and hope they don’t slide around too much.

In terms of actual luggage space, there isn’t much. There’s a small boot behind the engine, and while deep, it’s pretty narrow so you’ll only get soft bags in there if you plan on taking your Emira on a road trip.

In terms of size and price, the Emira lines up almost directly against the Porsche 718 Cayman, which is a formidable adversary, but also the likes of the BMW M4. Notably, it’s significantly cheaper than anything offered by the likes of Ferrari, Maserati and McLaren.

The MY24 Emira range begins at $155,900, before on-road costs, for the entry-level model but stretches up to just over $206,000 for the i4 First Edition we’re driving here.

The Emira has been designed as a more premium and luxurious sports car compared to the stripped down and basic models of the recent past, such as the Elise and Exige, so it gets a range of items not previously seen on many Lotus models - such as carpeted floors and the choice of either Nappa leather or Alcantara trim.

Also included are LED headlights, climate control, keyless ignition, cruise control, rear parking sensors, a premium sound system and a 12.3-inch digital dashboard.

It's worth noting the MY25 Emira line-up was detailed earlier this month. You can read all about it, including pricing and specification, here.

Jaguar’s engine names sound like forms you have to fill in when you apply for a home loan.

The P250 is a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine making 184kW and 365Nm; the D300 is a 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo diesel producing 221kW and 650Nm; while the P400 is a 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo petrol with outputs of 294kW and 550Nm.

The P550 is a supercharged 5.0-litre V8 producing a colossal 405kW and 700Nm.

The SE grade gives you the choice of the P250, D300 and P400, while the S only comes with the P250 and the SVR of course is powered only by the P550.

The D300 and D400 are new engines, both are straight sixes and replace the V6 engines in the old F-Pace. Superb engines, they are also found in the Defender and Range Rover.

Jaguar calls the D300 and P400 mild hybrids, but don’t be misled by the terminology. These engines are not hybrids in the sense that an electric motor is working to drive the wheels along with a combustion engine. Instead, a mild hybrid uses a 48-volt electrical system to help take the load off the engine by helping it start and running the electronics such as climate control. And yes, it does help save fuel, but not stacks.

There’s plenty of grunt from all these engines no matter which you choose, they all have eight-speed automatics and all-wheel drive.

You are also very likely looking at the last combustion engines to go into an F-Pace. See Jaguar has announced that it will only sell electric vehicles beyond 2025.

Four years and that’s it. Choose wisely.

The MY24 Emria first arrived in Australia with the same Toyota-built 3.5-litre V6 engine Lotus had used in recent years in the likes of the Exige and Evora. However, this new AMG-built four-cylinder provides a fresh choice.

Importantly, while built by Mercedes-AMG, the tuning and calibration is unique to Lotus (but we’ll discuss that in detail later).

That means the 2.0-litre unit is tuned to make 268kW/430Nm, which is less potent than AMG offers in its 310kW/500Nm A45 hot hatch, although a more potent version of the four-pot Emira has been confirmed for MY25.

The engine is paired with an eight-speed dual-clutch auto transmission, which you can either leave in automatic mode or change gear manually using the F1-style paddles on the steering wheel.

It doesn’t make sense that Jaguar has announced that it will be going all electric by 2025 yet doesn’t offer a plug-in hybrid in its Australian line-up, especially when there is one available overseas.

Jaguar says it doesn’t make sense either, but by that they mean business sense, in bringing one to Australia.  

So, for fuel economy I’m marking the F-Pace down. Yes, the D300 and P400 use clever mild-hybrid tech, but it doesn’t go far enough to reducing fuel use.

So the fuel consumptions, then. The official fuel consumption for the petrol P250 is 7.8L/100km, the diesel D300 will use 7.0L/100km, the P400 is stated to sip 8.7L/100km and the P550 V8 petrol will drink 11.7L/100km. Those figures are "combined cycle" numbers, after a combination of open and urban driving.

Given the Emira is a sports car, the four-cylinder turbo is tuned for performance over economy and that’s reflected in an 10.1L/100km return on the combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle. That’s not too bad for a sports car, but is relatively thirsty given the engine capacity and the overall size of the car.

The Emira is equipped with a 60-litre fuel tank, so it has a driving range of approximately 594km.

My two test cars at the Australian launch of the new F-Pace were the R-Dynamic SE P400 and the R-Dynamic S P250. Both were fitted with the road noise cancellation system which comes with the optional $1560 Meridian stereo and reduces the level of road noise coming into the cabin.

Which would I rather? Look, I’d be fibbing if I didn’t say the SE P400 with its smooth inline six that has seemingly endless shove, but it’s $20K more than the S P250 and neither engine is low on grunt and both handle and ride almost identically.

That ride has been improved in this new F-Pace with the rear suspension being retuned so that it’s not so firm.

Steering is still on the sharp side, but body control feels better and more composed in this updated F-Pace.

On the twisty and quick country roads I tested the S P250 and SE 400, both performed superbly, with responsive engines, great handling, and serene cabins (thanks to the help of the noise cancelling tech).

The second part of the test was driving both in city traffic for the best part of an hour each which isn’t pleasant in any car. The now wider F-Pace seats were comfortable and supportive, however, the transmission seamlessly swapped gears and even rolling on 22-inch wheels in the SE and 20-inch alloys in the S the ride was excellent.  

Just to be clear right up front, the score for this section is heavily biased towards the car's dynamic attributes, because frankly the Emira can be hard to live with at times.

At urban speeds the powertrain feels like a dog straining at its leash, which can result in some awkward moments.

For example, there were multiple instances where the gearbox refused to change out of second gear when exiting a roundabout, letting the engine rev quite hard and likely annoying my neighbours.

Some of the gear changes can be clunky too, not slotting as sweetly as they should on a sports car costing in excess of $200K.

However, you forget all that when you get the Emira onto a stretch of twisty, winding open road (preferably smooth tarmac) and move it from the 'Tour' to 'Sports' mode. The car comes alive, revving hard, shifting with precision and feeling like a puppy running through a field in pure ecstasy.

Like the great cars to come before it from Lotus, the Emira is in its element carving through corners. The steering is incredibly accurate, direct and responsive - as good as any sports car I’ve driven in recent memory. The chassis responds to those inputs with immediacy, too, feeling nimble, agile and engaging.

This is Lotus at its best.

Sports cars are not typically beacons of safety, not that they’re dangerous but the priority is speed, not complex and often weighty safety technology. It’s part of the reason these types of cars are rarely crash tested by the authorities, as is the case of the Emira.

But this more modern and luxury focused Lotus comes with a raft of safety items including adaptive cruise control, an anti-collision system (Lotus-speak for AEB), fatigue alert, road sign information, a vehicle speed limiter, lane departure warning, rear cross-traffic alert and lane change assist.

At the launch of the new F-Pace Jaguar announced that all of its vehicles would be covered by a five-year unlimited/kilometre warranty, a step up from the three-year coverage it used to offer.  

Service intervals? What are they? The F-Pace will tell you when it needs maintenance. But you should sign up for a five-year service plan which costs $1950 for the P250 engine, $2650 for the D300, $2250 for the P400 and $3750 for the P550.

Lotus Australia offers a three year warranty, which is in line with Porsche's cover, so that’s competitive in the sports car market. 

However, the brand does not offer capped price servicing, so you’ll need to discuss with your local dealer how much regular maintenance will cost you. The service intervals are every 12 months/15,000km.