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M MOTORING Range Rover Evoque
THE NEW RANGE ROVER EVOQUE
‘Why the new Evoque is more exciting than Formula 1’
“Formula 1 is boring!” “No it’s not!” I
retorted, “ Yes it is!” contended my racing
driver friend. As my friend happened to
be a veteran professional racing driver,
I thought I’d better listen carefully to his
argument against F1 before I beat him up.
I can’t tell you his name but let’s call him ‘Has
Bean’; and his argument went something like
this: At Formula 1 level the top ten drivers on
the grid are all of about equal ability and will
achieve, within a tenth of a second, the same
lap time around a race track in identical cars.
That means there’s nothing between them as
drivers. The first five laps then is just a dog
fight to see who’s got the best car. After that
it’s all over, and- bar one or two gliches for
the next fifty or so laps- nothing changes and
the race is done. That’s why, after watching
his five laps my racing driver friend switches
off the telly and goes to bed with his teddy
bear, Ayrton. “ After five laps I already
know the result”, he says – “It’s all about the
manufacturers not the car, Sebastien Vettel
and Red Bull last year are a case in point.”
This year it’s Mercedes”
I discretely returned the knuckle dusters to
my pocket thinking this guy has a point. As
an avid supporter of F1 I went to bed early
that night to get up at six on Sunday! morning
to watch the Australian grand prix. I was up
and in front of the telly by 6 am sharp with a
strong coffee in hand, but I fell asleep after
about five laps and woke up long after the
race finished. Rosberg was leading at the end
of five laps and won. Clearly, I was bored.
Evoque….d
It’s at times like this when I thank God for the
Range Rover Evoque. It is just so ‘not boring’. If
anything it’s a design wake up call to humdrum
competition, whilst remaining a truly practical
vehicle with style, panache and presence;
the proof in the pudding it being a massive
success for the Jaguar Land Rover Group.
The Evoque, true to its name sake, has
clearly struck a much needed chord with
car buyers fed up with having to live ‘a life in
the day of The Simpsons’ style of every day
transport. Buy an Evoque and even your sex
life improves.
Showcased at Geneva in 2011 as the LRX
Concept vehicle, many of us were pleasantly
surprised to see the likeness in the final
product, finally called the Evoque. Introduced
in three and five door versions, and with two
and four wheel drive it immediately appealed
to buyers wanting something relatively
affordable, practical and cost efficient
motoring. 18,000 advance orders followed
worldwide and annual global sales in excess
of 80,000 followed suit. It won no less than
110 global awards, including Top Gear
Magazine Car of the Year and World Design
Car of the Year. Somehow, a stylish off roader
was suddenly making sense, especially as
this one cut the mustard in the mud too.
Britain on Pole
It’s worth applauding for Britain. The Evoque
is designed, engineered and manufactured
in the UK with more than 75 per cent of
production exported to more than 170 global
markets - generating an estimated £2 billion
in annual export value to our shores. In just
three years the workforce has trebled to
more than 4,000 .And it gets better. Land
Rover feature in the top six of the official JB
Customer satisfaction survey data, meaning
a whole lot of current owners are happy with
the dealer service. And just in case the worse
happens and you have an accident, the
Evoque has a five star NCAP safety rating; to
the unfamiliar, that means official ‘top marks’.
A wide range of engine, trim, and spec
options means there is an Evoque for
everyone. Three engine options are available:
two 2.2-litre turbodiesels producing either
148 bhp (110 kW; 150 PS), or 187 bhp (139
kW; 190 PS), and a 2-litre 237 bhp (177 kW;
240 PS) turbocharged petrol engine. All
benefit from the premium finish to dash and
interior trim, and despite the sharp angular
receding flow of the roofline, there is ample
room to the rear due to the deepset seats,
and singular commitment of the designers to
interior comfort and space. The same applies
to loadspace (stats here) rounding off the all-
round utility equation nicely.
Back to the future…
It has remained a popular formula and with
only subtle facelifts for 2014 to its ‘get it right
first time ‘ styling, the Evoque remains the
leading SUV buyers choice. Highlights for the
current model line-up are a new responsive
nine-speed automatic transmission offering
better acceleration, efficiency and improved
comfort.
Available initially only on the Si4 Petrol
engine is the new Active Driveline System ,
designed to enhance agility and improve fuel
efficiency by operating in front wheel drive
only during steady state driving at speeds
above 22 mph. The system monitors vehicle
dynamics within 300 milliseconds for any
variation, and automatically engages four
wheel drive when required.
Torque Vectoring by Braking is a new
standard safety handling feature on all
Evoques across the range. The system
improves handling agility and safety by
redirecting torque between all four wheels to
counteract understeer (sometimes referred
to as front end ‘push’) in severe cornering
situations. We’ve tried it, and it can be
a life saver. Add to that a whole gambit of
technological driver assistance and safety
programmes, and the current record of
170,000 global sales in just 18 months is
just the starting point of where this product
is going.
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Engine Spec/
Performance
(our Choice) 2.2L SD4 Dynamic
Engine: Transverse inLine 4 Cylinder
Top speed: 121 mph
Accelleration: 0-60mph 8.0 sec
Size 2,179
Average Consumption 48.7 Mpg
Price £41,105