I’ve never really been interested in Jaguars. For the longest time, I kept hearing about their charm and character, and at the forefront of most of these conversations was their 5.0L supercharged V8 engine. In spite of all of this fanfare, I’ve always admired from a far but never really saw the appeal, but the 2024 Jaguar F-Pace SVR helped me finally see the light. Boy, was I missing out.

Being that this is the hot version of the F-Pace, worked over by Jaguar‘s Special Vehicle Operations division, the supercharged V8 at the business end of ship makes me upset, but not for the reason you may think. This engines saddens me because it’s glorious, and I feel like an absolute idiot for ignoring it for this long. The sheer pantomime theatre it delivers is exhilarating, the barn-burner exhaust note is beastly, and the zero-to-100 km/h sprint in four seconds flat is sensational considering its nearly 5,000-pound curb weight. Best of all, when you’ve had enough of disturbing the peace, you can mute its roar at the touch of a button. Seeing as most players in this field use turbocharged four- and six-cylinder engines, the F-Pace SVR offers a uniquely British charm.

The F-Pace SVR sends 550 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque to all four wheels with the help of a brilliant ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic transmission. Shifts are smooth and the all-wheel-drive system provides ample grip, whether you’re treating the F-Pace more like an F-Type, or cutting through rain or snow. Equally impressive is the F-Pace SVR’s controlled demeanour. Despite its impressive hardware, it has a relatively soft suspension, making it a more comfortable daily driver to both the Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 and the BMW X3 M. It glides smoothly over bumps and maintains stability at highway speeds without any noticeable floating sensations.

Inside, the F-Pace SVR maintains most of the interior updates for 2024 that were introduced in 2021. The expansive 11.4-inch touchscreen, featuring Jaguar Land Rover’s updated Pivi Pro interface is great, and we love the typefaces, colours, and graphics used throughout. Although other manufacturers moved to even larger screens, some of which big enough to engulf the whole dashboard, the F-Pace’s setup is just right.

While Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, the infotainment itself is quite useful and was issue-free during our evaluation. Additionally, the digital instrument cluster is exceptionally clear and crisp even in direct sunlight, though the one slight quirk is that you can customize it to display the same information across all three selectable panes. Beyond that, the F-Pace SVR offers an adequate level of customization to interior mood lighting and instrument cluster as a whole, but they could make getting to those settings slightly easier.

What was equally impressive as the F-Pace SVR’s drivetrain was the beautiful interior. The choice of an Alcantara dashboard and matching seat centres really make the interior of this Jag feel special. The F-Pace also provides ample space for four adults; up front, we felt more comfortable in the F-Pace than in a Porsche Macan, though taller passengers might find rear-seat headroom to be tight. All the way in the back, the F-Pace SVR boasts a generous 962 litres of cargo space, making it among the larger sporty sport-utes in its class, and if you need more space, the rear seats fold down. If our tester’s all-black interior motif isn’t your cup of tea, Jaguar provides a variety of appealing colours and textures — such as tan or red — to liven up the cabin.

Canadian pricing for the F-Pace SVR kicks off at $103,600. Our tester was fitted with the optional 22-inch forged wheels, a heated windshield, gloss-black roof rails, and a power-gesture sun blind, bringing the total up to $106,450 as-tested. Other notable options include the Driver’s Intelligence Package which adds on-board WiFi and a heads-up display, which our particular did not have.

While the 2024 Jaguar F-Pace SVR may not be the most practical, the most fuel efficient, or the most comfortable SUV out there, those that just want an incredibly fun SUV with one of the best exhaust notes on the market are in luck. I’m glad the F-Pace SVR exists, and I wish I didn’t wait so long to see what all the fuss was all about.