Range Rover Evoque

Tailgating A Class Act.

- Andy Enright

WE HAVE a bit of a problem with this Range Rover Evoque. Park it next to our reigning Car of the Year, the Volvo XC40, and they appear the most natural of rivals. The Swedish incumbent is a few millimetres longer and taller, not to mention a little more generous in wheelbase, where the second-gen Evoque is broader in the beam. Their footprint on the road is virtually identical, and both will appeal to those looking for a non-German premium compact SUV. In the Star Wars stormtrooper specifications as seen here, they look like two interpretations of the same recipe. But they diverge in one very significant regard.

Present for inspection is a base model 147kW Evoque P200 S that’s been dressed up with the R-Dynamic cosmetics and wears a list price of $65,650. The XC40 is a range-topping T5 R-Design, packing a chunky 185kW and it retails at a mere $55,990. Driving the Volvo down to meet the crew for the comparo, this test felt like a bust right from the outset. And when the Evoque pulled in next to the XC40 wearing Pirelli mud and snow tyres versus the lower-profile P Zeroes of the Volvo, it looked like the gap between the two would widen still further.

Land Rover has worked at preventing the second-gen Evoque from succumbing to middle-age spread. It’s much the same size as before, with more intelligent use of space inside meaning that it no longer feels as cramped in the back as the style-driven original. The PTA platform that underpins it is all-new and impresses within the first few hundred metres.