Range Rover Evoque
Martyn Collins finds out if Land Rover has managed to inject more Range Rover into its baby.
SECTOR Compact luxury SUV PRICE £38,250 FUEL 39.9-44.9mpg* CO2 143g/km**
The first-generation Evoque was a real shift change for the Range Rover brand, being the smallest model to wear the prized luxury off-road badge. Aided by futuristic Gerry McGovern styling, it immediately became a must-have model, with around 800,000 sold over its eight years on sale. It also became a surprise fleet success in diesel two-wheel drive form because of its CO2 performance, which ensured low BiK and good write-down allowance.
Well, the Evoque is back in second-generation form – the biggest claim being that Land Rover has injected more Range Rover into its new baby, plus some clever tech.
Outside, it would have been difficult to update the iconic styling of the original, so instead it’s been cleverly tweaked – although 99.9% of this car is new. Five-door only now, the greatest difference has to be the Velar-inspired styling, with slim LED-lit light clusters that stretch across the rear. Plus, the flush-fitting door handles at the side.
Bigger changes have happened on the inside, with the Touch Pro Duo infotainment system standard on R-Dynamic SE models and optional on others. This basically features two high-definition, touch-screens – one for the navigation and infotainment and the other for in-car features such as the ventilation.
The 2019 Evoque also sits on a longer, mixed material platform called the Premium Transverse Architecture. That means 20mm of additional knee room in the back, plus 10% extra luggage space.
The Evoque also debuts clever new technology. Clearsight Groundview is the first and basically works by letting you see through the bonnet, using cameras in the front grille and door mirrors, which together project a view on the touchscreen of what’s underneath and in front of the Evoque. It works really well too, as I had a chance to drive around a course, using only this system and the central infotainment screen.
The other is the Clearsight Rear View Mirror. At the flip of a switch, the actual mirror transforms into an HD display, which via a camera in the roof fin aerial gives an unobstructed rear view — even if it’s fully loaded with people or luggage.
*WLTP ** NEDC correlated