Think back on the history of Jaguar cars. Each model has a special place in automotive history, with some — like the Jaguar XKSS and Jaguar E-PACE — treated with near-universal respect. Like everything else surrounding those older cars, and the new Jaguar models at Jaguar Peabody, that’s no accident. The company’s biggest successes come because they lavish even the smallest details. We’re reminded of this by the new Jaguar I-PACE.
Electric cars have a host of advantages. They produce torque instantaneously, but all that power comes with no emissions. Other factors present challenges and opportunities simultaneously.
Being all-electric, the Jaguar I-PACE could be as quiet as an introvert in a library. But part of the Jaguar brand’s mystique isn’t just the beautifully-sculpted curves of its cars and SUVs. It’s also in the well-modulated growl of its engines.
Smartphones and user interfaces use haptic feedback — that barely perceptible vibration that registers the touch of a finger — to improve the user experience. For cars, especially cars as iconic as a Jaguar car, feedback comes on a number of levels. The Jaguar I-PACE will still provide the “feedback” of G-forces when accelerating or cornering. But without the engine sound, there’s something missing.
Leave it to the engineers, and some very creative sound designers, at Jaguar to find a simple but elegant solution. A recent Jaguar video gives sound designer Ian Suffield a chance to show off the sound of the new Jaguar I-PACE, and to explain how and why it sounds the way it does (you’ll hear from him around the 11:22 mark). The engine sound will be piped through the SUV’s speakers, giving its driver a bit of auditory feedback during the drive, much like they’d get from a Jaguar F-PACE.
How well this will work in practice remains to be seen. But when the 2019 Jaguar I-PACE arrives at 247 Newbury Street, home of Jaguar Peabody, we’ll find out and we hope you’ll be there!
