To answer the title of our piece, yes: The 2017 Range Rover Evoque meshes some nostalgic luxury with modernism, sleek looks, pointy bits, and “driver-inspired” functionality. Though, it also looks quite a lot like the new Ford Explorer. Price, profile, and performance all seem relatively cloned at first glance. So, what makes this compact 4×4 luxury SUV from across the pond worth it in lieu of Ford’s own (also pretty luxurious) trail runner? Should one stick with America?
Not if you’re looking for that Land Rover decadence on a budget, which the Evoque balances quite well. The 2017 Evoque certainly lives up to the automaker’s name with plenty of style and decent power numbers, not to mention obligatory 4×4 performance afforded by the included All-Terrain Progress Control (also known to us laypeople as low-speed crawl control).
But let’s look at the style before we get to that. A good Land Rover is meant to make a certain first impression, after all. The 2017 Evoque departs much of what Land Rover cooked up in the past, making the new Evoque very sleek, almost arrow-like. Available as a four-door hatch, convertible, or two-door coupe, the Evoque just manages to avoid the tacky moniker of being labeled a cross-over (in our opinion, at least). Gone are the days of hulking front ends, safari-like cabins and tall, Escalade-ish rear fascias. Instead, the Evoque manages to look like it’s going fast standing still.
Inside, the Oooh’s and Aaah’s continue with an optional panoramic glass roof, 11-speaker audio system, and deliciously stitched and padded leather seating, all made standard creature comforts for under $50 grand. If you opt for the strangely aesthetic convertible Evoque, the power-assisted fabric top folds down in a few seconds, and it can manage its own mechanics at up 30 mph.
The Evoque’s simpler interior departs the decadence of conventional Range Rover luxuries
The dash and driver/passenger appointments are refined, simplistic, but still luxury-feeling: A surprisingly simple (almost dated, but not quite) gauge cluster makes no bones about providing just the info you need and nothing more. This subtlety speaks to Land Rover’s intentions when they introduced the Evoque: They meant it to be a sporty driver’s car.
This impression is found in the cabin’s other accouterments, too. A colorful, bright LED screen keeps things modern and stylish, but simple functions and understated dials keep interactions brief and distractions minimal. An old-school shift knob is replaced by the luxury-standard, newfangled spaceship-lookin’ dial thing we see in every Euro import today, and the dash itself is hugged nicely by double stitched leather to match the seats. Speaking of seating arrangements, don’t expect to load up yourself and your executive buddies for a traipse across town to that steakhouse – the Evoque’s dramatically sloped profile means rear seating feels a little cramped (unless you opt for the convertible). A balance of style and substance, to be sure.
The convertible Evoque is a unique take on new SUVs, and it frees up some crampy rear seating
There isn’t much more going on inside, though, and this only reinforces the idea that the 2017 Evoque is a true driver’s car that just so happens to be very 4×4-capable. That’s all thanks to a turbocharged 2.0L EcoBoost (yes, you heard that right, see where the Explorer comparisons are coming from?) that pushes out 240 horses, mated to a nine-speed trans. We hate to say, however, the Evoque pales in comparison to its bigger brethren when it comes to raw performance: a 0-60 time of 6.6 seconds seems almost unacceptable at this price point, and mediocre MPGs (21 city, 29 highway) don’t account for this lack of power.
Once seated, the rear passenger area is comfortable – getting inside with the coupe’s low roof is another story.
If one can look past these entry-level-sedan numbers, though, you’ll find the nine-speed gearbox keeps the power band efficient, so the Evoque still feels robust. You’ll also be delighted once you take your leather-clad SUV on the trails. The All-Terrain Progress Control works like magic, helping the Evoque along at its own, seemingly self-aware pace. All you do is grip the wheel and point where you want to go, and the Evoque does the rest. The A-TPC system actively controls the motor’s RPMs, gears, and braking individually, basically driving itself over obstacles with ease.
But minus A-TPC, the Evoque’s things seem pretty similar to that of the good ole’ Ford Explorer. It’s only once you start tacking on trim features and fancy packages that the Evoque outshines. You can pick up adaptive xenon headlights, driver-seat memory functions, 12-way power seats, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, configurable ambient lighting, a universal garage door opener, adaptive suspension, illuminated kick plates, and the laundry list goes on and on. Once you start throwing in all these goodies, expect far more a expected, Land Rover-ish price tag – around $51,000, to be exact. In the end, the Evoque is quite a cool little SUV. It fills a niche middle market void that other makers left open, bridging a gap between those compact, zippy, economy 4x4s and big, bulky, V8 saloon trail blazers with six-figure price tags.
