Customer Experience: Pioneering a new sound for the Jaguar F-Pace SVR

“All the waiting and time invested was well worth the journey. There is no one else that can do what your team did to my SVR.” – Laura Wheeler

At Velocity AP, taking on a vehicle for research and development is a commitment we take seriously. It’s not just about creating new parts—it’s about transforming a customer’s dream into reality and making innovations available to the public that were once out of reach. We recently had the pleasure of working on Laura Wheeler’s Ultra Blue F-Pace SVR, crafting a bespoke performance package designed to elevate the driving experience of this remarkable vehicle to new heights. Our goal? To deliver back a car that exceeds expectations while also releasing cutting-edge products to enthusiasts everywhere.

We spoke to Laura Wheeler about her customer experience, and this is what she had to say:

” I’m a long winded kinda gal so I will just speak my heart and you can use whatever you like in the blog.

I come from a family of car connoisseurs and racers so my love for performance was a very natural affinity. At the age of 4 I saw my neighbor waxing his British Racing Green XJ in his circular drive. I was fascinated by the car with the cat on the hood and promptly rode my bicycle home and told my mom that I one day would most certainly have one of those cars . She raised her eyebrows in disapproval. Growing up in a blue-collar American home our household was strictly GM products. My mom grew up at the drag strip watching her father race his ethanol rear engine rail car every weekend during the summers. He only missed 1 world series from the time he was 16 until he stopped racing at 84 which was just two years ago. My mom taught my dad how to powershift on their first date and my dad knew she was the one because of that. My mom always drove Camaros so I was brought up with the notion you didn’t have to drive a minivan to be a mom and that really stuck with me.

My first few cars were what I could buy with cash but when I got my first real job at 21, I bought my first Jag. A 2004 X-Type V6 3.0 AWD. My father didn’t speak to me for a week. I was in heaven. A few months later I met a boy, and we arranged a date. To my shock we both arrived in Jags. Him in a 2004 S-Type R in silver, my car was gold. It was meant to be. Our small town of 16k rarely saw British cars driving around and we managed to find each other. We got married and my now husband Matthew supports all my crazy car decisions as we mostly love the same things. With my last name becoming Wheeler I clearly had to claim stake on that namesake and drive a very fast and very loud car.

Several Jags, 10 to be exact, later we found ourselves with 2 kids and a busy life both working outside the home. When our second child was born in 2016, I considered an F-Pace but ultimately got an XF. I thought about the F-Pace a lot though. I mentioned to my husband at the announcement of the SVR model that it would be my ultimate dream vehicle. We ended up getting an F-Pace, but it was just the V6. I still loved it but wished for the SVR. In August of 2021 we had a heated discussion about our dream cars. I expressed my ultimate wish was an Ultra Blue with Mars Red interior SVR. My husband said no one would order that color combo. I disagreed but said an SVR is something that you’d special order anyway. So, September rolls around and our wedding anniversary is the 14th. I’m minding my own business at work and my husband calls at 3:00 on a Thursday to ask if I want to go to New York for the weekend. Why, I ask. He says he’s bought a car. I’m immediately furious as we haven’t even talked about this yet and he is making arrangements to pick it up. I get home to chew him out and he unveils my dream car on the computer. I think he is surely joking but it’s not a joke. It’s a gift for our 10-year wedding anniversary. It’s Ultra Blue and Mars Red and was not a special order. My husband was turned down to purchase it for 2 weeks because we are from IL, and they wouldn’t sell outside of the tri-state area. He wore them down though and they let us buy it. We flew to White Plains, NY and drove it home.

For Christmas that year my husband was vying to get me a gift for my car. Being 10x Jag owners we had heard of VelocityAP and knew we always wanted to use them if we were going to do anything aftermarket. To my husband’s shock there was nothing on the website for my 2021 facelift model…. Yet. What was there was a form seeking a research and testing vehicle. My husband filled it out and much to our surprise Stuart reached out personally to get more info. Over the course of 6 months, we corresponded, and my SVR then made the journey to Oliver, BC to be used for R & D. On the way there my car was on a carrier that stopped at The Stradman’s house in SLC, Utah. So that was incredibly fun to see even if he wasn’t looking at my car.

A year passed before I was reunited with my SVR. Many people in disbelief I would send my dream car across the US and up to Canada to a group we’d never met in person. Also, many people scolding me asking WHY do you need all that HP and noise. I’d simply reply, why not? Is there a rule that I can’t? Usually, no response after that. At times I felt crazy, but I was determined to see it through. All the waiting and time invested was well worth the journey. There is no one else that can do what your team did to my SVR. I’m incredibly honored and grateful that we could help other SVR owners by sacrificing my vehicle for a year. I’d do it all over again. The pure excitement I get every time I’m behind the wheel is priceless. I’m stopped practically daily by curious minds. I’ve had strangers from Canada, England, United States, Australia and the United Arab Emirates reach out on social media to tell me they have seen my videos and ones shared on VAP’s site, but how do I really like it? They always feel like they are bothering me, but that is not the case at all. I would go on the national news to talk about my build if they’d let me. My dreams have become reality, and I have to pinch myself sometimes still. I’ve had my car back for 5 months and it feels like it was never gone. I daily it and when I tell you it’s EXACTLY the same but better it really is. Everything is seamless and flawless just like when it was factory except now it’s a fire breathing dragon. I have a lot of fans as I call it. A lot of people stop by my desk at work to express how loud my car is and how far away they can hear me coming from, but that it sounds amazing. Even strangers stop me in stores and restaurants to ask, WHAT IS THAT? I’ll never be bothered by those questions. It’s incredibly fun to be different amongst a sea of grey, silent cars. I’ve always been loud and my car fits that perfectly. While it can be loud the comfort level is still intact. I can easily close the valves and cruise under the radar. When I need it the power and noise are right there. People definitely move out of the way when they hear that exhaust kick in. It’s a family SUV that happens to be a supercar too. I love that it can be all those things and do them all seamlessly.

I often tease my car is more well-traveled than me. It started its journey in Britain, made it across the pond to NY, lives near Chicago and then got to go to the west coast and up to Canada! My husband and I flew in to pick it up and the drive back home was spectacular. I know everyone says their car is special, but to me this one really is. From what we know it’s one of 2 in the US that is Ultra Blue and Mars Red from 2021. However, this is now the only Ultra Blue and Mars Red VelocityAP Monster. The team at VelocityAP is second to none and the knowledge and expertise of each individual is so boggling to witness behind the scenes. If anyone is on the fence about purchasing your products vs a competitor, I can confidently tell you to pole vault over the fence to VelocityAP and don’t look back. The grass is as green as it seems. No one is going to research and develop products for your car like VelocityAP does. They go over the top no matter the product they are trying to develop. You won’t find passion like this anywhere else. I know it seems cheeseball to say that, but I know as I work in product development and sales myself and it’s rare to witness a team who cares as much as this team does. Nothing but adoration and thanks for everything I have been provided to me. I’m not worthy but I will drive it like I stole it for the rest of its days and that is a promise.”

Check out our F-Pace SVR parts in link below:

https://www.velocityap.com/?s=f+pace+svr&post_type=product&dgwt_wcas=1