2019 Jaguar E-Pace vs Range Rover Evoque

What's the difference?

The E-Pace is a fine alternative to any of its similarly-priced competitors from Britain and Germany. Nothing else looks remotely like it and few badges are as evocative as the that cat leaping across the tailgate. Jaguar is making the best cars it has ever made and the E-Pace is one of the best built, too.

It's genuinely sporty, even if not particularly quick in D180 guise. The SE specification is quite good, even if it is missing a couple of obvious things that are expensive to add (blind-spot monitoring, for instance) when you tick the box.

The only perplexing thing about the E-Pace is that I don't see them on the road more often.

The second-generation Range Rover Evoque is a lot of things. It’s stunning to look at, better to drive, more practical, and more luxurious than ever before.

While it’s also hugely expensive and has lost some of the charm that came with its once-small visage, it achieves something far more important for the Evoque name, and that’s keeping it relevant in an increasingly congested luxury space.

Also check out Andrew Chesterton's thoughts from the Evoque's international launch.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel and meals provided.

Jaguar calls the smaller-than-F-Pace vehicle "the cub". Because it's a baby Jaguar. Get it?

Interestingly, it's not just a shrunken F-Pace, owing more to the sporty F-Type when viewed from the front. The headlights are SUV-ified F-Type units, with the signature J shape. Flanking a big bold grille and placed over big brake ducts, you get the impression Jaguar was keen to emphasise the S in SUV. That theme continues in profile with a fast-looking roofline meeting a muscular rear end that looks brilliant from the rear three-quarter. I think it's better looking than the handsome F-Pace.

The R Dynamic Pack blacks out most of the chrome and adds black wheels

Inside is contemporary without being too exciting, although it's worth noting the F-Type influences are everywhere, including the more normal shifter as opposed to the dramatic, rising rotary dial of other Jags. Everything is clear and easy to use, although the greyness of the dash plastics might be a tad overwhelming without any splashes of wood or aluminium to break them up.

Put simply – the Evoque has returned to put competitors back where they belong. It is truly stunning for an SUV. To my eyes, at least, it has dethroned the Volvo XC40 as the most attractive small SUV on the market.

Sure, it’s more Victoria Beckham than Bear Grylls, but the Range Rover brand has crept beyond upmarket from its hose-out interior roots – and the Evoque owns it.

Land Rover has managed to morph the seamless, slick lines of the Velar onto the Evoque's petite and chunky frame. Design touches like LED headlights (now standard), contrast bodypanels and flush doorhandles add to this car’s stunning visage as you get closer.

Still, it’s undeniably an Evoque and has held onto design pillars like the ‘high beltline’ that rides from the headlamps to the tail-lights and descending roofline.

Inside, the Evoque has also continued to push upmarket with leather-trimmed surfaces from the base S up. It still has the signature chunky door inserts with recessed handles and window/mirror controls and has lovely seats no matter the grade with a premium-feel raised centre console stack.

It’s also in the centre where the Evoque has gained the elegant ‘Touch Pro Duo’ set-up from its larger sibling the Velar, totally de-cluttering the space.

Smart design touches are abound with well-textured and hidden storage areas throughout.

It all looks incredible, but there are a few downsides worth noting. The Evoque now has the huge steering wheel from the rest of the Range Rover range, making the helm feel more cumbersome than it was in its predecessor, and the abundance of gloss surfaces results in a potentially glare-heavy and difficult to keep clean cabin.

Don’t like the cars in the pictures? No problems, Land Rover offers no less than 17 different interior trim packages with five different textured highlights and numerous headlinings and wheel trims for pretty much any taste.

As it's based on the Evoque, it's unsurprising that the rear seats aren't exactly amazing, but they'll do the same job as, say, a Mazda CX-5. So space is solid if unspectacular, with okay legroom and headroom for people up to 185cm (yes, number-one son). The rear seats score their own air-conditioning vents and there are four USB ports and three 12V sockets for charging.

Front and rear seats each have a pair of cupholders for a total of four, while the doors will swallow a decent-sized bottle. The boot starts at 577 litres with the seats in place (my gut says that's a to-the-roof number) with that figure rising to 1234 litres when the seats are folded down. The boot is a good shape, with vertical walls on either side, free of wheel-arch intrusions.

The Evoque is on a heavily updated platform with its very bones having been altered to future-proof it for hybrid drivetrains.

This has resulted in a 20mm increase to its wheelbase, which is reflected directly into its now-gigantic cabin.

Aside from the invasively large steering wheel, the driver is greeted with an airy and spacious cabin with plenty of room for elbows across the thick centre console and chiseled out door cards.

Almost every surface greets you with a soft material, although the window line is quite high, making resting your arm there impractical.

There are storage spaces everywhere. Bottle holders in the doors, cupholders in the centre console, a massive top-box with a split opening and power sources within, a decently-sized glove box and a huge trench hidden underneath the second-screen.

The designers have had the foresight to put lovely textures on the base of storage surfaces to prevent items like phones, wallets and even pens from finding their way onto the floor.

Rear passengers are greeted with no shortage of legroom, dual rear air-vents, pockets on the back of the front seats and trenches in the doors.

Seat trim and comfort are easily as good as the front seats, and despite the declining roofline, headroom is plentiful for someone my size (I’m 182cm tall).

An odd annoyance I noted was the lack of handles above the doors. Almost every car has these. Not sure why this one doesn’t.

Don’t be deceived by the Evoque’s squashed rear window. I found on my test drive its surprisingly easy to see out of it, and then, there’s the boot.

The boot is truly gigantic, the Evoque’s new platform has made it 20cm wider than it was before, but it’s the volume that’s staggering. At 591 litres with the rear seats up it easily pulls punches with SUVs a size up.

There’s also an elastic belt and netted area for securing small objects. There are a few small catches to this voluminous space, and that’s that the rear seats don’t fold fully flat, making for a smaller total space and there’s only a space-saver spare wheel on offer under the boot floor.

Now this is a tough one, because to its credit, Land Rover has made many of the essential items standard. That having been said, as I’m writing this I’m looking at an options list that’s 15 pages long.

There’s also the fact that once you consider the three trim levels, six(!) engines and two body options you’re left with a monumental 26 possible permutations of this car – and that’s before you start delving into those options.

To break it down, the Evoque has three familiar grades. The S, SE and HSE. From there you pick an engine.

The entry-level S, starting at $62,670 (before on-road costs) can only be had with the base four engines (P200, P250 petrol, D150, D180 diesel) and comes standard with 18-inch alloy wheels, a 10-inch multimedia system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support as well as built-in sat nav, leather interior with 10-way electrically adjustable front seats, manually adjustable climate control, a six-speaker stereo, auto-dimming rear view mirror, a reversing camera as well as front and rear parking sensors.

Stepping up to the mid-spec SE from $68,610 gives you the choice of all six (P200, P250, P300 petrol, D150, D180, D240 diesel) engines.

It has all the equipment of the S but with the addition of the ‘Touch Pro Duo’ second multi-function touchscreen controlling all the vehicle functions, ‘premium’ LED headlights with auto-high beam control, 20-inch alloy wheels, 14-way electrically adjustable front seats and a digital dashboard.

The top-spec HSE costs from $90,230, and can be had with only the top two engines (the P300 petrol and D240 diesel). It includes everything from the SE, as well as a more sophisticated “active driveline” all-wheel drive system, capable of sending all of the engine’s torque to any one wheel, powered tailgate, differently-styled 20-inch alloy wheels, upgraded 'Windsor extended leather'  interior trim, 'Atlas bezel' steering wheel (a metal liner), the ‘ClearSight’ interior rear view mirror, 10-speaker premium audio system, and keyless entry.

From there you pick whether you want the sporty R-Dynamic body-kit at a cost of $1680 on any grade and then start ticking boxes on the expansive options list.

Items notably excluded from the standard features list on any grade like an electronically adjustable steering column and DAB+ digital radio are present, but are pricey options. As are bespoke interior trims and 16-way electronically adjustable heated and cooled premium leather seats.

Almost any feature can be had on any grade as an option. If you really want you can have a base S with premium leather seats and huge wheels. There’s something to be said for how customisable the range is, but with so many options it makes ordering a car overwhelming.

The now-expected active safety items are now standard from the S up, but an option any grade should have ticked is the ‘Driver Assist Pack’ (costing between $2840 on the S to $490 on the HSE) which includes the rest of the suite at a reasonable cost.

For a limited time, Land Rover is offering a ‘First Edition’ with either of the mid-spec engines, the D180 and P250 at $91,550 and $91,300 respectively.

They have the lion’s share of options boxes ticked for you and essentially include items like the R-Dynamic and black contrast packs for free. Although at the top-end of the price scale, when you consider the inclusions, they aren’t bad value.

It has to be said that although the Evoque range can be specified to any buyer’s imagination, Land Rover has managed to make an already expensive small SUV even more expensive, placing it in another price league altogether when tallied up against the Audi Q2 (from $41,950), BMW X2 (from $46,900) and Mercedes-Benz GLA (from $44,700).

The D180 is the second of three diesel Ingenium engines. All are of 2.0-litres in size and the D150 and D180 carry a single turbo. The D180 brings 132kW and 430Nm to the table and sends it out through a nine-speed ZF automatic.

All E-Paces available in Australia are all-wheel drive and in this guise, they'll carry you to 100km/h in over nine seconds, which isn't bad for an 1800kg car.

As previously mentioned, the Evoque has almost too many engine options. There are three petrols and three diesels, ranging from so-so to perhaps overpowered in the case of the P300.

All the engine options are 2.0-litre turbocharged units in different states of tune, and all are mated to a nine-speed torque converter transmission, with all-wheel drive.

Starting with the diesel the entry-level engine offered on most grades is the D150 which offers 110kW/380Nm, you can then step up to the mid-spec D180 which ups those figures to 132kW/430Nm and then to the top-spec D240 which offers 177kW/500Nm.

On the petrol side, things kick off with the P200 at 147kW/320Nm, then there’s the P250 with 183kW/365Nm and, finally, the top-spec P300 which has a rather silly 221kW/400Nm.

The top two engine options also offer a mild hybrid 48V electrical system which is capable of cutting the engine under 17km/h and feeding power back into auxiliary systems, although it is not capable of running the car under its own power. The brand says the system allows for a six per cent reduction in fuel consumption.

To make things more complicated, a three-cylinder mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants are expected to join the line-up some time in 2020.

The ADR-approved fuel sticker suggests you'll get 6L/100km on the combined cycle while emitting 158g/km. A week of suburban warrioring and some modest highway driving delivered an indicated 8.0L/100km, which wasn't unexpected given the car's weight.

The Evoque has reasonable official claimed/combined consumption figures across all its engine options. Diesel engines are more impressive consuming 5.1L/100km for the base D150, 6.8L/100km for the D180 and 6.3L/100km for the D240.

Petrols are not quite as good, with stated figures of 8.1L/100km for the P200 and P250 and 8.2L/100km for the P300.

Every new-generation Evoque has a 65-litre fuel tank.

I've been itching to have a go in the E-Pace on Australian roads as well as being keen to drive the diesel. The only E-Pace I had driven was on Corsica's brilliantly tight and twisty roads and it was the full-fat P300. Australian roads are a completely different kettle of fish - compared with Corsica's mostly brilliantly maintained surfaces and, of course, a lower-powered diesel could well expose the chunky chassis' possible shortcomings.

As soon as I was back behind the wheel of the E-Pace, I remembered how good it was to drive. Nicely weighted steering, good vision in most directions, sensible driving position and a cosy fit. Again, it feels more like the F-Type than the F-Pace, except you won't be able to see the underside of a semi-trailer from the E-Pace.

The D180 had a bit more kick off the line than I was expecting, given its modest power figure of 132kW. It helps to have nine gears to make the most of it and, for once, the ZF nine-speed wasn't the disaster I've found it to be in a few other cars. I was cautiously optimistic about it being better in the E-Pace and a week with it proved it a step up. The Ingenium diesel is smooth and quiet and once you're up and running has a pretty decent punch for overtaking or peak-hour acrobatics.

What was also nice was how well the ride has translated to Australian roads. Even on 20-inch alloys it managed the potholes and ruts of Sydney's roads really well. It's firm - don't expect pillowy ride in any Jag, really - but not crashy or messy.

Obviously, the diesel engine doesn't deliver much delight for the ears and while the nine speed is good, it's still not as good as the ZF eight speed. And of course, if you really push the E-Pace, you begin to feel the weight, but that doesn't really happen until you're giving it a walloping.

I still prefer a petrol-engined E-Pace, but if you handed me a diesel I wouldn't be upset.

This Evoque is better to drive in almost every way compared to its predecessor. It’s smoother, more confident in corners, more composed on rough terrain, and some combination of the new engines and re-calibration of the nine-speed auto has made most of the turbo-lag issues reported on its predecessor a thing of the past.

Unlike many SUVs, the Evoque doesn’t suffer from the feeling of impending understeer, and it’s surprisingly capable when trudging along unsealed roads and even off-road tracks.

Although there’s no mechanical control of a low-range gearbox, Land Rover’s computer-controlled Terrain Response 2 system might surprise you as to how capable it really is, especially on the top two engine variants with their enhanced torque vectoring abilities.

Diesel engines in particular are surprisingly quiet, and while it could be argued that the P300 petrol engine is overpowered for something this size, it was genuinely difficult to get the wheels to lose traction on tarmac.

One criticism I would level at this new Evoque is that in its quest to become the most practical small luxury machine on four wheels, it’s lost something along the way. It’s so big and heavy now it feels as though you’re just driving a cropped down Velar.

That’s all very luxurious, but I’ll miss the nimble, agile feeling that was a large part of what made the first Evoque so endearing.

Standard active safety from the base S up includes essential items like auto emergency braking (AEB), lane keep assist (LKAS), and traffic sign recognition.

Higher specs will grant you more, including blind-spot monitoring (BSM), rear cross traffic alert (RCTA), high-speed AEB with active cruise control and auto-parking.

Thankfully there’s the ‘Driver Assist Pack’ which bundles all the active safety items into one reasonably-priced place. It costs between $2840 on the S to just $490 on the HSE and is easily the best value item on the options list.

The Evoque scored a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating in time for its launch, which applies to all variants.

There are six airbags and the rear seats benefit from ISOFIX child-seat mounting points on the outboard seats and top-tethers across all three positions.

As with the rest of the premium makers, Jaguar is sticking with three-year/100,000km warranty with roadside assist to match. Seems weird that nobody has broken for five years at this premium level yet, but it's only a matter of time before they do.

You can buy another one or two years of warranty when you buy the car.

You can also buy a service plan, which covers five years of servicing. For diesel cars, that also covers 102,000km and costs $1500 (petrols are the same price, but cover five years/130,000km). Jaguar likes to see you every 12 months or 26,000km (the petrols are an amazing 24 months/34,000km).

Land Rover offers a three-year 100,000km warranty which is frustratingly short, though if you believe what BMW has to say on the matter, this won’t bother premium buyers.

Still, with Volkswagen now offering a five-year warranty, the pressure will hopefully mount on premium automakers to start offering a little more in this space.

Land Rover does offer 24 hour roadside assist for the length of the warranty.

The new Evoque has condition-dependent servicing, meaning the car’s on-board computer will notify you when it’s time to have it serviced. This will happen at least once every 12 months.

This car’s predecessor allowed you to add service packs of up to five years at the time of purchase, as well as an optional extended warranty. We’ll seek clarification and pricing on these and update this story when we have confirmation on both.