New Range Rover Evoque now more appealing

Range Rover’s new Evoque has already been swanning around swanky suburbs since the middle of last year. And, no, there is no new news on the car, or spec change. We just weren’t able to get one to drive till right at the end of 2019. But, hey, I am sure there are those of you out there who love the Evoque and want to know what I thought about the car. I drove the original a few years ago in Liverpool and came away from that launch rather impressed with what the SUV offered in terms of styling and technology.

This time round, I was equally impressed, as was my wife – maybe even more so than I, because she would just not give the keys up. Perhaps that shouldn’t come as a surprise because I feel the Evoque certainly appeals to woman more than it does men. And not for a moment am I suggesting it isn’t a competent off -road, chest-beating machine. It’s more because it does this rugged stuff wrapped in a dapper suit.

One thing is for sure, the designers at Range Rover know how to pen good-looking cars. Of course, you do have to exclude the one with the silly number plate holder off on the side of the rear tailgate, but not the Evoque – so it’s cool. Styling taken care of!

Terrain Response 2 is available as standard for the first time on the Evoque. This means all you have to do is choose from one of four modes (comfort, sand, grass-gravel-snow and mud and ruts) and the Evoque will take care of the rest, should you want to go out and play in the dirt. And if you are not up to choosing a mode or are concerned the terrain might change and you have the wrong mode selected, there is a new auto mode which lets the car select the most appropriate mode for the conditions and automatically adjust its torque delivery to suit the terrain.

It comes with a variety of all-terrain technologies such as hill-descent control, gradient release control and all-terrain progress control. This technology is joined by on-the-road assistance features such as adaptive cruise control with steering assist. The ride quality was great and well suited to the more refined and recalibrated 132kW/430Nm turbodiesel engine and ZF nine-speed automatic gearbox.

Our D180 S model starts at a suggested retail price of R784 300 and also returned a real world 7.7l/100km. On or off -road, the Evoque has you covered, so now you know why I figured your wife would like it. It is good looking, clever and extremely capable. What’s not to like?

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