It always has been a great looking car, the Range Rover Evoque. Compact, sharp, shrinking the DNA of the big Rangie in to a much smaller footprint — it does a darn fine job of standing out in the sea of generic looking compact luxury ‘SUVs.’ For 2024, the Evoque gets a nip and a tuck. Nothing out of the ordinary — there’s the obligatory styling update and the interior freshen up. Interestingly, the Evoque is now going to be available with an Autobiography trim, taking inspiration from its inspiration. That’s not the car we’re driving. We’re in the Dynamic SE trim, that takes a more sporty approach to things.
On the styling front, you have a new grille, new headlamps and new, more aggressive, bumpers. The Evoque now comes with Pixel LEDs (let’s see if the India-spec cars get them too), and they do a good job of lighting up the road ahead as we experienced with the Velar that gets them as well. Blacked out Range Rover lettering on the nose looks cool, and the new Evoque sits better with the rest of the updated Range Rover erm… range. Over at the side you’ve got 20-inch wheels (Autobiography trim gets diamond cut alloys) that can be upsized to 21s. There’s a strong character line down the side, and the flush door handles are new. At the rear you get sleeker taillamps, a blacked out faux diffuser, and a cool touch — tailpipes on either side. The new ‘reductive’ design philosophy really shines through with these updates.
On the inside, there’s plenty more to talk about. There’s the new Pivi Pro screen that has now made its way across all Range Rover models. The screen negates the need for any physical controls on the centre console and dash, save for the updated gear selector. Like the outside, it keeps with the reductive design philosophy and makes the interior look really minimal. As far as in-car infotainment systems go, this is one of the better ones out there. Important controls like volume, temperature, fan speed, drive modes, media, are all accessible with one or two touches. Others that need more taps are features mot used on the daily, and are anyway easy to navigate too. The new screen frees up more storage space in the centre console, and gives the centre console this clean look few other SUVs have.
As for drivetrains, the Evoque continues with petrol and diesel options. The PHEV drivetrains got big updates with better efficiency and an updated BMS, but we’re not going to be seeing them in India. The mild hybrids continue as before — this was the P250 with the 2-litre Ingenium petrol putting out 246bhp and 365Nm. 0-100kmph is a claimed 7.6 seconds which isn’t lightning quick, but more than adequate to get up to speed. You can get up to highway speeds quickly enough, and sitting there isn’t trouble at all. The engine does send minor vibrations through the cabin but it is nothing too intrusive. Switch it up to dynamic, and it gets a little more sprightly with the 9-speed automatic holding gears longer and keeping the engine on the boil better.
The Evoque also gets dynamic dampers now (again, unsure if this will make it to India-spec cars) and dynamic mode does firm things up and keep it on its toes. It certainly feels nimble enough to entertain you should you choose to point it down a winding road — the short wheelbase, quick steering and firm dampers allowing it to handle well for a tall car. But it also keeps you comfortable for the most part. France’s roads didn’t have the sort of conditions we’d find in India, but the few paver-block streets and the one off-road trail we went down did indicate at good ride quality.
Where the Evoque’s biggest strengths lie are in its footprint — it remains such a compact SUV, with such good visibility, that driving it around town is no hassle at all. In our congested cities, the bigger Rangies can get a bit cumbersome if you’re not in the second row. That’s where the Evoque comes in — it gives you the Range Rover experience, but allows you to enjoy it in a package that is focussed around the driver instead of the backseat. Stuff like the Meridian audio system, high quality displays up front and head-up display really reinforce that focus. The material selection and luxury is as you’d expect. The only chink I could find in its armour is the lack of ventilated seats — a must have for our summers.
As for prices, the Evoque has just been launched in India at Rs 67.9 lakh ex-showroom and at that price, it really is a great entry in to the Range Rover family, giving you a compact SUV that is really easy to drive around town without compromising on the luxury and quality you would expect of the brand.