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Mourinho keeps his cool as he masters ice driving

News Editor ·

José Mourinho has been mastering the art of high speed drifting and ice driving on a 60km frozen lake at Jaguar Land Rover's extreme testing facility in Arjeplog, Sweden.

 The ex-Chelsea football manager was testing a high performance Jaguar F-PACE S prototype as part of an extreme driver training experience just 40 miles from the Arctic Circle.

In temperatures as low as -30 degrees, Mourinho's driving skills were tested to their extreme limit in the Jaguar F-PACE by Finnish professional driver, Tommi Karrinaho. 

Mourinho said: "The flying lap with Tommi sent my adrenaline soaring. It's something I've only ever experienced before when I have walked out in front of 80,000 football fans."

The three-time Premier League-winning manager is experiencing widespread interest about his future right now, but he was philosophical about his next move. 

"I have worked for as long as I can remember as a manager and this is now the second time I have stopped in 16 years. So it's not a drama, but for sure I will be back soon... I don't know where football will take me because in football you never know, but for sure as a family our home will still be in London." 

Customer deliveries for the new F-PACE are set to kick off in late spring 2016, and Mourinho, who already owns an F-TYPE Coupé, is among the first to have placed an order.

Jaguar will be rolling out the Ice Drive Experience to customers from all over the world in 2017.

SUV, News

New Jaguar F-Pace tested to the extreme

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Jaguar has been busy testing its new F-Pace in extreme conditions - from -40 degrees to plus +50.

Taking the new SUV to the searing heat and dust of Dubai as well as the ice and snow of Northern Sweden, the new F-Pace has been subjected to one of the most demanding test programmes the company has ever devised ensuring that every system functions perfectly, even under the most extreme conditions.

At Jaguar Land Rover's test facility in Arjeplog, Northern Sweden, average winter temperatures rarely exceed -15 degrees and often plummet to -40 degrees. The 60km of purpose-built handling tracks, mountain climbs, inclines, split-friction straights and off-road areas are ideal for optimising the calibration of the all-wheel drive system, Dynamic Stability Control and technologies such as Jaguar's revolutionary All-Surface Progress Control. The work done here makes sure that, whether on asphalt, snow or ice, the F-Pace delivers the connected steering feel and agility 'fundamental to Jaguar dynamics DNA'.

In Dubai, ambient temperatures can exceed 50 degrees in the shade. When vehicles are left out in direct sunlight, cabin temperatures can soar to 70 degrees - exactly what's needed to ensure that everything from climate control systems to infotainment touchscreens function perfectly in extremes of heat and humidity. And while the test engineers can relax in air-conditioned comfort as they drive in city traffic, this part of the test cycle is designed to place the cooling systems under very high load through a combination of high ambient temperatures and low airflow.

Andrew Whyman, Vehicle Programme Director, Jaguar F-Pace said: "We developed the F-Pace to offer the ride, handling and refinement demanded from a Jaguar, together with exceptional levels of ability and composure on all surfaces and in all weathers. Just as we paid obsessive attention to detail over the engineering of every single component, we've exhaustively tested the F-Pace in the most challenging conditions to ensure that it will exceed the expectations of our customers around the world".

The SUV has also been driven over gravelled mountain passes, marking the first time that a Jaguar test programme has included this uniquely challenging environment.

The new F-Pace will debut at the Frankfurt motor show in September.