2017 Range Rover Evoque vs 2019

What's the difference?

The Evoque is cool, classy and fun. It's well equipped, properly screwed together, and age hasn't taken the edge of its still dramatic looks. And if we had to pick a sweet spot, it's the five door in SE grade with the Td4 180 engine. Great performance, lots of standard equipment, and a relatively modest price.
That said, the range as a whole isn't exactly cheap, and option prices add up quickly. But as the old saying goes, quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten, and when time does finally catch up with this first generation Evoque, it will be a tough act to follow.

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.

A mesmerising combination of Imperial Stormtrooper and Exocet missile, the Evoque exudes character and confidence.

A piercing stare from sharply angled headlights is backed up by pumped up wheel arches filled with large rims to create a muscular, borderline angry stance.

Character lines along the side of the car are angled up as they move towards the rear, while the roofline slopes down. The result is a strongly tapered glass area and a feeling of aggressive forward motion, even when the car's standing still.

Signature design cues include blacked out window and door pillars to create a floating roof effect, as well as a geometric tail-light treatment, retained in the convertible, even though its rear section has been substantially re-engineered to accommodate a 'Z-fold' fabric roof (structured to retain the Evoque's distinctive silhouette when in place).

The interior retains the chiselled-from-stone look, with a broad centre console sweeping up between the front seats to join the dash. Brushed metal inserts enhance the weapons-grade feel, with broad surfaces containing neatly integrated segments for multimedia, air con, instruments and other controls.

Produced at Jaguar Land Rover's Halewood plant in the UK, the standard of fit and finish is excellent, with high quality cloth and leather upholstery combined with soft-touch materials around the dash, doors and storage areas.

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.

The Evoque is currently offered in Australia as a five-door and convertible only, the three door having quietly made an exit (after four years in market) in the last half of 2016.

Although the hardtop Evoque is only 4.4m long, 2.0m wide, and just over 1.6m high, interior space is generous. There's plenty of room for front seat passengers, with wide-opening doors providing easy access.

And while not exactly limo-like, space for rear seat passengers is surprisingly good. There's enough headroom for those up to around 180-185cm to sit in uncontorted comfort, with reasonable legroom, but the centre position is modest. Big tick for adjustable air vents in the rear of all models.

The cup holder count runs to two in the front and two in the back, although the doors are a no-go zone for bottles bigger than that scotch you nicked from the hotel mini-bar.

Having lost two doors and the roof, you also give up a seat in the Convertible, with four positions available. With roof up, head and legroom in the back is surprisingly generous, and with the top down, headroom increases significantly.

With rear seats upright, the five-door offers a handy 575 litres of load space, which expands to 1445 litres with the 60/40 split rear seats folded. Worth noting the rear seats don't fold completely flat, which can make life awkward, and a high load sill height isn't ideal.

The Convertible makes do with a modest 251 litres of boot capacity, but it's clear the drop-top is more about relaxed day trips than full-on excursions.

Luggage compartment anchor points are standard on all models (hard and soft top).

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).

A choice of two diesel engines and one petrol unit is offered across the Evoque range, as well as a six-speed manual (entry-level Pure only) or nine-speed automatic transmission, with every model sending drive to all four wheels via an electronically-controlled Haldex centre coupling (with torque on demand to the rear axle).

The Euro 6 emissions standards-compliant diesels are members of JLR’s ‘Ingenium’ engine family, developed to (wait for it…) “maximise performance and environmental sustainability.” In other words, more grunt, lower consumption and fewer emissions.

The 2.0-litre Td4 150 (for 150hp) turbo-diesel produces 110kW at 4000rpm and a hefty 380Nm at 1750rpm. While capacity is unchanged, the Td4 180 is tuned to deliver 132kW/430Nm at precisely the same rpm peaks.

If petrol power is more your thing, the 2.0-litre Si4 240 turbo-petrol produces 177kW at 5800 and 340Nm at that magic 1750rpm mark. This engine dates back to Jaguar and Land Rover’s years under Ford ownership (which finished in 2008), and is technically part of the blue oval’s EcoBoost range. Stand by for an Ingenium replacement sooner rather than later.

The nine-speed ZF (9HP) automatic transmission replaced the previous six-speed unit in early 2013.

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 Evoque Pure Td4 150 manual leads the way on fuel economy, with Range Rover claiming 4.8L/100km for the combined (urban/extra urban) cycle.

The Td4 180 in five-door form is listed at 5.1L/100km, with the Si4 240 petrol version rated at 7.8L/100km. Weighing just under 300kg more than an equivalent five-door model, it's no surprise the Convertible ups the numbers on fuel consumption, the diesel version using 5.7L/100km, and the petrol 8.6L/100km.

Fuel tank capacity for diesel models is 54 litres, while the petrol's extra thirst means a step up to 68.5 litres.

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.

Any vehicle adorned with a Land Rover badge has to maintain the iconic brand's ability to perform off-road, even a cheeky, city-focused convertible Range Rover Evoque.

Tech features like 'Terrain Response', 'Hill Descent Control', and 'All-terrain Progress Control' systems look after that with break over, and departure clearances allowing the Evoque to climb (just about) every mountain and ford (almost) every stream.

That said, the urban jungle is the Evoque's more natural habitat, and it performs beautifully there as well.

Acceleration is crisp in all models, with the manual-equipped Pure Td4 150 taking the longest time to sprint from 0-100kmh (10.8sec), while the master blaster is the Si4 240 five-door, trimming that to just 7.6sec.

But rather than focus on stopwatch numbers, it's the low down torque from both the petrol and diesel engines that contributes most to the Evoque's willing character. It's all there from just 1750rpm, and mid-range pulling power is strong.

The six-speed manual gearbox in the entry-level Pure is reassuringly positive, with short throws and a sweet clutch action. The nine-speed auto is as smooth as a Don Draper creative pitch, with ratios perfectly matched to keep the engine on the boil.

Suspension is by struts all around and the Evoque delivers a polished blend of ride comfort and dynamic ability.

There's plenty of feel and a reassuringly linear response from the electrically-assisted rack and pinion steering, while the torque vectoring (by braking) system subtly discourages the front end from pushing into understeer in rapid cornering.

Braking in all models is by ventilated discs up front, with solid rotors at the rear, and they deliver progressive, consistent stopping power.

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.

The Range Rover Evoque is covered by a three year/100,000km warranty.

Diesel models require servicing every 12 months/16,000km, while petrol-powered variants should head to the workshop every two years/34,000km. Land Rover doesn't offer a capped-price servicing for the Evoque.

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.