High road

IT’S ONLY ten miles long, but, at 670m above sea level, the Cairnwell Pass in the Scottish Highlands features some of the most demanding driving conditions this country has to offer. Here, you’ll find uneven surfaces, slow bends, fast corners, hidden dips and even thick snow. There are also long straights, steep inclines and – perhaps most dangerous of all – skiers. In other words, the UK’s highest road is the perfect place to test the Jaguar’s fastest and most powerful SUV, the F-PACE SVR.

But first, I have to get there.

Almost 500 miles from London, the Cairnwell Pass is in one of the most isolated parts of the British Isles, so even reaching it is an adventure. And with a spacious and comfortable (if dated) interior, any variety of F-PACE is an ideal car for the job; the SVR, with its 5.0-litre, 550PS (543bhp) supercharged V8 just makes it more interesting. The car makes short work of the A1 and M6, offering smooth, instant acceleration, plus lots more