2025 Jaguar F-Pace SVR 575 Ultimate Edition review

Ninety years of history and heritage. It says so right on the centre console. “Est. 1935, Coventry.”
Now, in 2025, it all comes down to this, the last-ever V8 from the British brand as it pushes on towards its highly publicised electric future.

Jaguar has already confirmed it will cease production of internal combustion engine (ICE) cars by the end of 2025, and in their place, a range of electric vehicles that will propel the brand into a new era.

But not before this final – and fitting – farewell. It’s the 2025 Jaguar F-Pace SVR 575 Ultimate Edition, and in this instance, the word 'ultimate' takes on its true meaning – ‘adj: being or happening at the end of a process; final’.

It’s a long way from Coventry in September 1935, when the first car to bear the Jaguar name, the SS 2½ Litre, announced the brand’s arrival. With a lusty 2664cc inline-six, the SS 2½ Litre set the template for the following 90 years – sleek lines, powerful engines and luxury materials.

It’s a template still evident today in the car we have here, the last-ever Jaguar V8, which serves not just as a farewell, but also a celebration of 90 years of the British brand’s heritage.

Just 60 examples of the MY26-plated Ultimate Edition will be available to Australian buyers, which takes the already well-specified F-Pace SVR 575 Edition and throws the options book at it. It’s priced from $182,235 before on-road costs.

Let’s look at what makes the Ultimate Edition the, well, ultimate edition.

Aside from the supercharged 5.0-litre V8 under the bonnet – which has been specially tuned by the good folk at Special Vehicle Racing (SVR, hence the name) to make 423kW and 700Nm – a V8 that growls and purrs, sometimes roars, like the leaping cat that gives the Jaguar its name, there’s a rich list of bling that sets this last V8 apart from those that came before.

Externally, the Ultimate Edition is distinguished by a swathe of gloss black styling elements. Everything from the grille to the 22-inch alloy wheels, bonnet vents, gills, mirror caps, window surrounds, roof rails and badging is finished in a high-gloss black which, when contrasted against the Sorrento Yellow paint of our test car, looks not only special, but rather menacing. Red brake calipers, also part of the Ultimate Edition, add a splash of fiery contrast.

Inside, powered front seats with heating and cooling are wrapped in ebony semi-aniline leather, a material used throughout the cabin. There’s also privacy glass, a head-up display, and carbon-fibre trim finishes throughout.

For buyers who might find yellow a bit over-the-top, the Ultimate Edition’s palette has you covered with traditional British Racing Green and Icy White in gloss and Ligurian Black in Satin also available.

Standard equipment carried over the ‘regular’ F-Pace SVR includes LED headlights and daytime running lights, heated and powered side mirrors, heated steering wheel, power-adjustable steering column, dual-zone climate control and ‘bright metal’ pedals.

There’s an 11.4-inch infotainment touchscreen with satellite navigation, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (wired and wireless), DAB+ digital radio, a premium Meridian sound system, and wireless smartphone charging.

The full gamut of Jaguar’s safety technologies and advanced driver assist systems (ADAS) – which we’ll detail later in this review – is also included.

Rivals? There are some, but arguably none will offer the same dose of nostalgia for a brand that is about to change completely and irrevocably.

Spending $181,800 will land a Porsche Cayenne S and its 4.0-litre V8 in your driveway, while the Mercedes-AMG GLE63 S is priced significantly higher at $266,900.

Closer to JLR home, a Range Rover Sport P530 Autobiography is priced from $233,961, while the Land Rover Defender 130 P500 V8 starts at $216,197. All prices before on-road costs and options.

Certainly, on price when compared against its main rivals, there’s a good dose of ‘bang-for-your-buck’ in the F-Pace SVR 575 Ultimate Edition.

If you're after one of the 60 Ultimate Editions that have been allocated to Australia, best get in touch with your Jaguar dealer pronto. You can find your nearest Jaguar dealer here.

The cabin of the Ultimate Edition feels like a Jaguar should. There are acres of quality materials throughout – from the soft semi-aniline leather finished in ebony, to the suede headlining, carbon-finish trims and aluminium accents, the interior of the F-Pace presents as proper luxury.

SVR logos embroidered into the headrests and badges festooned on the steering wheel and chunky gear lever remind you this a special F-Pace. The front seats, power-adjustable 14 ways and with heating and cooling, are beautifully supportive and comfortable, and working in tandem with the power-adjustable steering column (along with a memory function) ensure your perfect driving position is never far away.

And the view over that commanding and oh-so-searing yellow bonnet is commanding. You feel like royalty sitting behind the wheel.

Practicalities abound too. From the obligatory cupholders to a nice and deep (and softly padded) central storage bin, to the wireless smartphone charging pad and even a slot between the cupholders that perfectly captures your smartphone, the F-Pace’s cabin is well thought out and comfortable.

Every touchable surface feels sumptuous, while the diamond-quilted and perforated leather of the seats looks like money.

The second row follows the theme of the first, with comfortable outboard seats and plenty of room in all key areas. The outboard seats are heated, too, for an extra layer of comfort.

Foot room under the front seat is excellent as is leg, knee and head room, despite the presence of a panoramic sunroof. The middle seat does feel compromised, a large transmission tunnel eating into foot space. The seat base and back are noticeably firmer than the lounge-like outboard seats.

Amenities include air vents, a pair of USB Type-C plugs as well as a 12V outlet, while a fold-down armrest reveals a pair of cupholders.

For those with little ones, the outboard seats are fitted with ISOFIX child seat mounts, and all three seatbacks are equipped with top-tether anchor points.

The second row folds away in 40:20:40 fashion to liberate cargo space, quoted at 1842 litres with a load length of 1824mm and width of 1091mm.

Save the second row for use by passengers and the cargo capacity comes in at a quoted at 793L.

That compares favourably against some of its main rivals. The Porsche Cayenne S quotes 745L/1681L, while the Range Rover Sport bests its Jaguar Land Rover stablemate marginally with 835L/1865L.

The Ultimate Edition’s cargo area is served nicely by a powered tailgate, a variety of tie-down points and bag hooks, and keeping your goodies away from prying eyes is a cargo cover.

Under the boot floor lives a space-saver spare to help get you out of a flat-tyre bind.

The F-Pace’s 11.4-inch touchscreen is small by today’s standards, but it’s also arguably among the very best, with crystal-clear graphics and a gentle curvature that lends it a nicely integrated feel.

Running the broader JLR stable’s Pivi Pro operating system, the F-Pace’s infotainment set-up is responsive and easy to use, with a simple app-based menu structure that feels familiar and intuitive.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, both wired and wireless, are standard-fit features. I spent my week with the F-Pace Ultimate Edition hooked up to wireless CarPlay exclusively which proved faultless – quick to connect and with stable connections throughout.

For those won don’t want to use Google Maps, the F-Pace’s native satellite navigation is excellent with clear graphics and route guidance. It can be mirrored into the digital instrument cluster, too, for an easier user experience.

The instrument display is clear and easy to read and can be configured in a number of ways to display as much or as little info as you want or need. I opted for a two-dial set-up with trip and driving data nestled between, but could just as easily utilised full-screen mapping or a clean single dial.

Selecting the layout and what info to display is done via a controller on the steering wheel, and it’s a bit clunky to use. But once you have found your preferred layout, you’re unlikely to change it.

The Meridian sound system is excellent, too, with high-end audio clarity. Helpfully, a scroller in the centre console controls audio volume – no fiddly on-screen sliders. That carries through to the F-Pace’s climate controls, which feature chunky dials that are easy to use on the move, just as they should be.

A wireless smartphone charging pad lives forward of the gear selector, while Jaguar has hedged its bets with cabled connections, one of each USB Type-A and Type-C inside the central storage bin, along with a 12V outlet in the centre console. The second row features a further two USB Type-C connections.

Owners can access the F-Pace on their smartphone via the Jaguar Remote App to locate their vehicle, check on fuel levels or locking and unlocking the doors. The app can also operate climate controls remotely, pre-conditioning the F-Pace to nice and cosy levels ahead of entering the car.

The Jaguar F-Pace range is currently unrated by Australia’s safety body ANCAP. Previously, the large SUV wore a five-star safety rating, but that expired on January 1, 2024. With production set to finish by the end of 2025, it’s highly unlikely the F-Pace will be retested.

The older, largely unchanged model did score highly when it was last tested in 2017, scoring 93 per cent for adult occupant protection, 85 per cent child occupant, 80 per cent pedestrian protection and 72 per cent for its safety assist systems. However, ANCAP’s scorecard for that test explicitly excludes SVR-badged models.

The F-Pace SVR 575 Ultimate Edition is fitted with the full suite of Jaguar’s safety and advanced driver assist systems (ADAS).

Autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, rear cross-traffic alert with brake assist, blind-spot monitoring, lane-departure warning and lane-keeping assist underpin the F-Pace’s ADAS.

Adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go functionality, forward collision warning, road sign recognition with alert and a driver attention monitor are also included, while six airbags cover both rows of occupants.

Our week with the F-Pace revealed how nicely calibrated Jaguar’s ADAS is, with no glaring and overly eager interventions. The adaptive cruise control worked smoothly and maintained the set speed with alacrity, while lane-keeping assist proved gentle and helpful rather than invasive and aggressive.

Only the traffic sign recognition feature offered a small glimmer of frustration, occasionally detecting the wrong sign (such as a freeway off-ramp speed limit) and then alerting with a quiet yet insistent chime. By no means a deal-breaker, and we’ve experienced far worse integrations across multiple brands.

Jaguar covers the F-Pace with its standard five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, which is par for the course in today’s auto landscape.

Servicing is required every 12 months or the quaintly odd 26,000km, whichever comes first. A five-year/130,000km service plan is priced at $3750.

While we were unable to obtain a comprehensive insurance quote specifically for the F-Pace Ultimate Edition, the similarly specified, albeit more affordable, V8-powered F-Pace SVR 575 Edition asks for $3454 in annual insurance premiums, based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW.

Expect the Ultimate Edition on test here to attract higher premiums.

Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

There’s no hiding from the fact that the F-Pace SVR 575 and its stonking supercharged V8 are going to need fuel. And lots of it.

Jaguar, for its part, claims a combined fuel consumption figure of 11.7 litres per 100 kilometres, and while we didn’t quite meet that claim, our week with the last of the breed returned an indicated 12.8L/100km.

All things considered – and my week encompassed a variety of driving conditions and styles including weekday traffic, weekend around town, some highway cruising and a good dose of some more adventurous driving on my favourite stretch of rural tarmac – that’s not a bad return against Jaguar’s claim. Still, with an 83-litre tank and with 95-octane premium unleaded nudging $2.00 a litre in most states and territories, the weekly fuel bill won't be for the faint of wallet.

There’s something special about a big V8 under the bonnet; an aural reminder of what is rapidly becoming a bygone era of motoring.

In the case of the F-Pace SVR, it’s a glorious beast of a thing, with 5.0 litres of supercharged bent-eight that leaves the hairs on your neck tingling.

Jaguar claims outputs of 423kW and 700Nm sent to all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission. Hook the Big Cat up in the right conditions and it will dispatch the sprint from 0–100km/h in four seconds flat. That’s impressive, all the more so for the Ultimate Edition’s 2133kg kerb weight.

But it’s not just about raw power and prodigious straight-line speed. Instead, the SVR plies its trade in a menacing yet humble manner.

Thanks to European noise nannies, the raucous roar of the V8 has been eviscerated just a little. Make no mistake, it’s still a glorious-sounding engine, but it’s a little quieter than previously.

It doesn't detract from what this F-Pace SVR is capable of, which is to serve admirably as a quiet (but not so quiet) daily driver that feels equally at home tootling about the ’burbs as it does stretching its legs on the highway or menacing some rural back roads with intent.

Certainly with 423kW and 700Nm on tap, the Jaguar is an effortless daily driver with so much in reserve it barely raises a sweat in commuter traffic.

Similarly, out on the highway at cruising speeds of 100–110km/h, the Ultimate Edition settles into a relaxed and easy lope, the engine barely ticking over as it gobbles up the kays, its true abilities only unleashed when an overtake is required.

Step on the accelerator and the eight-speed auto responds instantly dropping a gear or two, as the Big Cat leaps forward with a thunderous growl and a hint of supercharged whine that can’t help but leave you smiling, then laughing.

Ride comfort is excellent, the Jaguar’s adaptive dampers prioritising comfort over sportiness. Regular roads and their regular hodgepodge of cracks and joins and lumps and bumps barely make their presence felt in the cabin. Even in their firmest – Dynamic – setting, the adaptive dampers still cushion the cabin nicely from the outside world.

Larger obstacles, like speed humps, do little to ruffle on-road composure, the big Jag navigating them in comfort and settling quickly back down on its haunches without that tell-tale wobble sometimes felt in other vehicles.

The steering remains light and precise, proving a boon in suburban environs where smaller roads are tackled with ease and parking remains a cinch.

Dynamic mode dials up some heft to the steering, and it’s a heft that adds plenty of tactility to the driving experience, especially when faced with a winding and beguiling ribbon of tarmac.

Here, the big SUV is at its most ferocious, piling on speed with enormous ease while the supercharged V8 takes on a symphony of anger, with a thunderous roar as speed climbs and oh-so-satisfying burbles and crackles on overrun.

There’s fun to be had here, no doubt, and the Jaguar rewards a dominant hand. Despite its weight, the SVR is a purposeful cornering weapon. The steering remains precise and sharp, while grip levels, especially from the front end, are prodigious.

The torque vectoring all-wheel-drive system does a good job of apportioning numbers to the right wheels at the right time. The system is rear-wheel biased, but when it detects that more stability and grip are needed at the front wheels – such as under more adventurous cornering – it will shuffle power and torque forwards.

And here the SVR 575 Ultimate Edition responds with poise, digging in and swinging the two-tonne-plus SUV around with a surety that belies its size and heft. And once the road head is straight, the AWD once again sends the bulk of the V8’s numbers to the rear wheels as it surges ahead at that intoxicating 4.0-second pace.

The eight-speed automatic is impressive for its duality. Around town, it remains smooth and effortless, rowing through the ratios with nary a ripple inside the cabin.

Similarly, out on the highway, the gearbox is responsive to acceleration, kicking down quickly and into the right gear for the situation, allowing the engine to build steam and the Ultimate Edition to pile on speed.

But the transmission saves its best for when you’re wanting to control your own ratio destiny via the large and beautifully tactile paddle-shifters mounted behind the steering wheel.

Manual shifts are snappy and sharp, and add a level of engagement not quite there when the gearbox is left to its own devices. And there are some delicious-sounding pops and burbles on downshifts and overrun that will leave you grinning for days.

And that’s what this last of the breed does. It beguiles and it rewards, the sum of its parts coming together in one final dance of combustion; a last V8 tango that will be remembered long after it's gone.

This is it. Performance SUVs, heck performance cars in general, with V8 power are increasingly thin on the ground. And in the case of the MY26 Jaguar F-Pace SVR 575 Ultimate Edition, soon to be thinner.

It’s the last of the breed. The last-ever V8 from a brand that has over the last 90 years given us some of the world’s most iconic cars.

Extinction looms for the F-Pace, so if you’re after a supercharged V8 SUV with soul and character, then this could be the one for you.

It’s surprisingly gentle and easy-natured when you need it to be, and yet can also be wonderfully untamed and wild when the situation demands. The best of both worlds then – a comfortable and well-appointed luxury SUV ideal for the family, and a performance car with character and intent oozing out of its supercharged pores.

Jaguar’s next chapter awaits, and while its new era may well give us electric vehicles that are faster and more accomplished, it’s hard to imagine them being imbued with the same character, that same visceral quality that the first 90 years of the brand has provided. Get one while you still can.

Rob Margeit is an award-winning Australian motoring journalist and editor who has been writing about cars and motorsport for over 25 years. A former editor of Australian Auto Action, Rob’s work has also appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Wheels, Motor Magazine, Street Machine and Top Gear Australia. Rob’s current rides include a 1996 Mercedes-Benz E-Class and a 2000 Honda HR-V Sport.

Read more about Rob Margeit