If in doubt, smooth it out
Slicker body, more space and some surprising new technology for f the Evoque’s difficult second album. Range Rover’s baby is all grown up...
Gerry McGovern, Land Rover’s chief creative officer, introduces the new Evoque punchily. “The acid test is this. Does the new car make the old car look old? Not different, but old.”
He’s right that it isn’t conceptually different: the bloodline from 2008 LRX concept to 2011 first-gen Evoque to this new one could hardly be clearer. But given that the old one served Land Rover mightily well, is it a noble aim to make it look like yesterday’s chip-paper? Isn’t that an insult to his own back catalogue, and a slight on the existing owners?
McGovern seldom displays the symptoms of low self-esteem, but his reply to my question is uncharacteristically hesitant: “I guess… I could have phrased that differently.” Then he’s back on track. “I might be wrong, but I don’t think I’ve ever designed a car that didn’t sell.” He’s perhaps forgetting I’ve known him since he unveiled the MGF, although to be fair he also did the riotously successful MkI Freelander around the same time. Anyway, as it stands before us, the new Evoque is a superb reimagination of the original. More than just an Evoque tribute band, it is genuinely progressive. But, at the same time, it reminds you how good the first one was.
Under the evolved design, the rest of it is almost entirely fresh. It’s not just a rework of the old one, which spread its seed into the Discovery Sport and Jaguar E-Pace. The entire thing is new, as in new.
Some step-change technologies have been wrapped in. What will get the most ooohs and aaahs are the front and rear cameras. Looking forward, it’s ‘Clear Sight Ground View’ – the central touchscreen can display a perspective-enhanced image from grille and door-mirror cameras. It’s like the bonnet and engine were transparent. Handy in car parks as well as off road. ‘Clear Sight Rear View’ is a 1.7-megapixel display filling the rear-view mirror. It’s semi-silvered so can work as a regular item too, but switch it on and your rear passengers, headrests and piled-high luggage magically disappear. The camera lenses are dirt- and water-repellent by the way.
It’s not just screens for outward vision. From mid-level trim and up, the Evoque has adopted the three-screen dash of the Range Rovers above it. Except – huzzah! – it finally bows to the inevitable by adding Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
The other major technical leap is a play for fuel savings. All auto transmission versions – which is all bar the base-power FWD diesel – have mild-hybrid propulsion, thanks to a 48V starter-alternator. It also adds 75lb ft of electric low-rev torque-fill for
when the turbo is lagging. The battery is under the driver’s seat, so foot room and ground clearance don’t suffer. Evoque chief engineer Pete Simkin says it saves around six per cent in fuel. There’s more: aero drag is down by 14 per cent, so the overall effect is “a step-change in consumption,” claims Simkin. But you can’t compare by looking at the specs, because the official test has just changed.
Engines at launch are diesel in 150bhp FWD and 180 and 240 AWD, and AWD petrols in 200, 250 and 300bhp. All are two litres, natch. After a year, a full plug-in hybrid version launches, using a 1.5-litre three-cylinder engine from the same Ingenium family. Expect about a 30-mile electric-only range.
Simkin wanted good driving as well as big steps in refinement. A whole different enginemount position and design helps there. The rear suspension uses significant parts from the Velar, though is sprung on coils. At the front it’s a new generation of lightweight strut. Adaptive damping is on the menu. The optional rear active-clutch differential unit is the same principle as before, but a new, lighter, faster unit. The basic AWD versions just get torque vectoring by braking.
Somewhat against the grain, the new one is actually heavier than the old. Why not use an aluminium chassis? Range Rover is good at those. Simkin points out aluminium demands thick structural sections. The compulsion here was to keep the Evoque compact. Never mind off-roading, it’s mostly used as an urban car.
So it uses super-high-strength steels instead, granting shorter crash-defence overhangs.
Sure enough, it’s shorter than the old one. But it has a longer wheelbase so rear room is better. The boot’s bigger; fuel and urea tanks 20 per cent