Find Out How The Jaguar E-Pace's Barrel Roll Was Achieved

With crossovers of all shapes and sizes gaining traction with each passing year, it's easy to understand why the E-Pace is such an important model for Jaguar. To make sure it would get a lot of attention at its world premiere, the British automaker owned by Tata Motors decided to pull out all the stops and introduce the premium compact crossover in great style.

Half a year in the making for just one and a half seconds of action. Indeed, Jaguar conducted no less than 33 test jumps over the course of six months to make sure the public attempt at the E-Pace's London reveal event would be a complete success.

Here is the barrel roll attempt by the numbers: 756 hours of engineering simulation time, 160-meter run-up required to gain speed, 42 mph take-off speed, 270-degree rotation, 1.5-seconds air time, 5.5G forces, and a margin for error of just 10 mm for the 15.3-meter-long barrel roll stunt. There was virtually no room for any mistakes, so a lot of work was put into making sure the 007-style jump would go exactly as planned and set a new Guinness World Record for the furthest barrel roll in a production vehicle.

Professional stunt driver Terry Grant was behind the wheel of the E-Pace, which had to go through "minor safety modifications" like the fitment of a bespoke roll cage.

The crossover's splashy introduction follows the equally spectacular debut of its bigger brother, the F-Pace. In 2015, the very same Terry Grant managed to perform a record-breaking 360-degree, 19.08-meter loop:

Seeing as how Jaguar has developed a habit of introducing its crossovers with much fanfare, we can't help but wonder what it has in store for the forthcoming electric I-Pace. We won't have to wait much longer as the zero-emissions CUV is likely destined to show up in production metal either in September in Frankfurt or early December in Los Angeles.