Newnew generationgeneration

Freshfresh stylingstyling andand newnew dieseldiesel enginesengines makemake thethe Evoqueevoque anan eveneven moremore temptingtempting propositionproposition asas findsfinds outout

here’shere’s aa newnew Evoqueevoque onon thethe block.block. Okay,okay, soso itit doesn’tdoesn’t appearappear aa greatgreat dealdeal differentdifferent but,but, looklook closelyclosely andand thethe differences,differences, subtlesubtle asas theythey are,are, willwill becomebecome apparent.apparent.

Perhapsperhaps thethe mostmost obviousobvious isis thethe additionaddition ofof adaptiveadaptive LEDLED headlightsheadlights andand revisedrevised frontfront bumperbumper withwith enlargedenlarged airair intakes,intakes, butbut therethere areare alsoalso twotwo newnew grillegrille designsdesigns andand newnew alloyalloy wheelwheel styles.styles.

Atat thethe backback there’sthere’s aa newnew tailgatetailgate spoilerspoiler andand high-high-levellevel LEDLED stoplight.stoplight.

Thethe chunky,chunky, chiselledchiselled profileprofile withwith aa taperedtapered windowlinewindowline thatthat combinescombines bothboth aa utilitarianutilitarian andand sportysporty looklook remains,remains, asas doesdoes itsits deceptivelydeceptively smallsmall footprint.footprint.

Thatthat alsoalso meansmeans thethe pre-prefaceliftfacelift model’smodel’s shortcomingsshortcomings areare alsoalso unchanged.unchanged. Thethe shortageshortage ofof legroomlegroom inin thethe backback isis noticeablenoticeable butbut there’sthere’s plentyplenty ofof headroomheadroom despitedespite thethe taperedtapered silhouette.silhouette.

Visibility,visibility, thanksthanks toto thethe shallowshallow sideside windowswindows andand letterbox-letterbox-likelike rearrear screen,screen, cancan makemake manoeuvringmanoeuvring difficultdifficult whichwhich isis probablyprobably whywhy parkingparking sensorssensors areare includedincluded asas standardstandard rightright acrossacross thethe range.range. Thethe viewview outout thethe front,front, inin contrast,contrast, isis excellentexcellent thanksthanks toto thethe commandingcommanding drivingdriving position.

Inin thethe cabincabin you’llyou’ll findfind newnew seatsseats andand doordoor casings,casings, moremore soft-soft-touchtouch materialsmaterials andand there’sthere’s aa newnew rangerange ofof colourscolours toto choosechoose from.from.

Underunder thethe bonnetbonnet ofof mymy testtest carcar waswas JLR’SJLR’S newnew Ingeniumingenium dieseldiesel producingproducing 148bhp.148bhp. Youyou cancan optopt forfor aa moremore powerfulpowerful versionversion producingproducing 178bhp178bhp butbut thethe smallersmaller outputoutput engineengine waswas certainlycertainly nono slouchslouch and,and, withwith thethe manufacturermanufacturer claimingclaiming aa combinedcombined returnreturn ofof 65.6mpg65.6mpg ((II averagedaveraged closercloser toto 46mpg46mpg withwith aa reasonablyreasonably heavyheavy rightright foot),foot), itit makesmakes aa strongstrong casecase forfor itself.itself.

Unusually,unusually, perhaps,perhaps, mymy testtest carcar alsoalso arrivedarrived withwith aa six-sixspeedspeed manual.manual. Thethe eight-eight-speedspeed automaticautomatic boxesboxes inin JLR’SJLR’S carscars havehave alwaysalways provenproven toto bebe excellentexcellent andand soso itit waswas withwith thethe manual.manual. Slick,slick, preciseprecise andand withwith aa positivepositive actionaction itit reallyreally waswas aa pleasurepleasure toto slipslip throughthrough thethe gears.

Optionsoptions fittedfitted toto mymy testtest carcar includedincluded aa fixedfixed panoramicpanoramic roofroof fittedfitted with,with, thankfully,thankfully, aa retractableretractable blind.blind. Withoutwithout itit I’di’d havehave justjust asas likelylikely bebe growinggrowing prize-prize-winningwinning tomatoestomatoes inin itit asas drivingdriving it.it. Thethe premiumpremium HDDHDD navigationnavigation isis aa ££600600 optionoption whilewhile thethe Incontrolincontrol Touchtouch Plusplus coupledcoupled toto thethe Merdianmerdian surroundsurround soundsound systemsystem andand thethe Incontrolincontrol Connectconnect Packpack addsadds anotheranother ££2,250.2,250.

Thethe suspensionsuspension hashas beenbeen reworkedreworked toto taketake accountaccount ofof thethe lighterlighter engineengine withwith newnew frontfront suspensionsuspension subframesubframe andand revisedrevised rearrear bushings,bushings, asas wellwell asas largerlarger brakebrake discs.discs.

Onon thethe movemove thethe Evoqueevoque