Jaguar F-Pace Named 2016 Car of the Year Runner-Up

By Adam Pockross - December 21, 2016

Jaguar F-PACE 1

Business Insider Has a Lot of Nice Things to Say About the Jaguar F-Pace.

Okay, it would have been better if Business Insider named the new Jaguar F-Pace as their 2016 Car of the Year, but runner-up ain’t bad either.

Especially considering all the nice things they have to say about Jaguar’s hot-selling SUV. Heck, right there at headline level they call it “incredibly beautiful.” And then they go on to say it’s “the most gorgeous SUV currently available.” And the effusiveness about Ian Callum’s “masterpiece” just keeps coming.

For their test car, Business Insider got to enjoy a $72,000, First Edition 2017 F-Pace in Caesium Blue for a few days around the Northeast. And from the sounds of things, they really didn’t want to give it back.

Beyond the styling, which had them at hello, they loved the car’s 380-horsepower, 3.0-liter supercharged V6. “That’s plenty of pump, and coupled with the eight-speed gearbox, it yields joyful driving when there’s joy to be had.”

They were keenly impressed with the car’s technology too, particularly the optional waterproof Activity Key, lane-keep warnings, and adaptive cruise control.

However, they didn’t particularly like the infotainment center. But that obviously didn’t hurt their impressions of the car as a whole. Alas, they still didn’t like the F-Pace quite enough to give it the crown.

For the record, Business Insider ultimately named the Acura NSX as their 2016 Car of the Year. Obviously, we’re not sold on the idea, and think they should pit the cars against each other on an off-road course for a run-off. What do you think?