Thursday, 23 February 2012

A sure sign of liking a new car is when you find reasons to forgive the various shortcomings. The Range Rover Evoque is a perfect example. Poor rear visibility, clumsy three-door rear access, a thirsty petrol engine and hefty asking price need to be weighed against the sheer bravado of Land Rover’s new baby.

There is a lot to like about the Evoque. For starters there’s the design. Like it or not it’s refreshing to see a new car that breaks the mould and looks different.

It’s even better behind the wheel. Over the course of our week long 500 mile test it never failed to impress. It eats up motorway miles in a carefree manner, as you would expect from a 240bhp turbocharged petrol engine. It’s claimed 0-60mph of just 7.1 seconds felt more than achievable.

The driver has the best seat in the house with a commanding cockpit style position. Instrument layout is excellent and the sat nav is amongst the best we have tested; easy to use and accurate. There’s also digital radio and excellent iPod connectivity. The rear parking camera is also good.

There’s plenty of neat touches: the blind spot warning lights on the door mirrors; the exterior welcome lights, which shine a downward beam complete with an outline image of the car; the full length glass roof which lightens an otherwise over dark interior.

As for those drawbacks. Rear access for the three-door is clumsy. The front seats flop down in a surprisingly low tech manner and are then slowly moved forward by way of an electric switch, making entry and exit a cumbersome chore. While the rear seats are comfortable the high waste line looks good but will severely reduce visibility for children. Also, despite the Evoque’s large footprint it only has four seats which reduces its practicality.

Ultimately the Evoque is a car of compromises but anyone paying £40K and is happy with a circa 30mpg return, we only managed 25.6mpg, at the pumps, will have what is undoubtedly the fashion statement of the year and will be happy to overlook its shortcomings.

Curtis Hutchinson

Model: Range Rover Evoque
Price: £39,995
Engine: 2.0-litre, 240PS, supercharged, petrol
Consumption: 32.5mpg official combined
C02: 199g/km