V-8 Jaguar F-Pace SVO to take on Mercedes-AMG, BMW M SUVs?

A new report suggests that Jaguar is looking at shoehorning a V-8 engine, presumably a supercharged one at that, into its new F-Pace crossover.

2017 Jaguar F-Pace  -  2015 Frankfurt Motor Show live photos

2017 Jaguar F-Pace - 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show live photos

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The F-Pace is Jaguar's first crossover, and while the brand says it has given up on wagons based on sedans, that doesn't mean that it has no intentions of making a high performance crossover to square off against rivals from BMW, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz, among others.

Car and Driver reports that Jaguar's SVO (Special Vehicle Operations) division is hard at work on a new range-topper that would offer considerably more power than the 380-horsepower supercharged V-6 that currently serves as the model's flagship.

A natural fit would be the brand's 5.0-liter supercharged V-8, which is available in a multitude of tunes, culminating in a 575 horsepower unit under the hood of the F-Type SVR.

Car and Driver says that prototypes powered by a version of the supercharged V-8 are already running around the company's headquarters in Gaydon, England.

Such a model would nicely rival AMG and M versions of Mercedes' M-Class and BMW's X5, respectively.

However, Jaguar has so far remained mum on any F-Pace models other than the diesel 4-cylinder and gas V-6s it currently sells in the F-Pace.

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