Evolution of the Land Rover Evoque

Heralded as a car with one of the longest names outside of motorsport, the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque, is one of the most dynamic models produced by the manufacturer.

More than this, it’s also among the most popular across all kinds of customers – let’s not forget Mario Balotelli and that gold-wrapped disaster we told you about a couple of weeks ago. *Shudders*

But, what is it about this particular model that people love? For one thing there’s a consistent performance level without compromising on efficiency, which can be attractive for many who are looking for an SUV for day-to-day and family life.

However, it’s also a high-functioning model that can handle muddy and snowy conditions better than most other SUVs on the market.

Seeing as they’re a popular runner and we quite like them too, we thought we’d bring you a little history of the evolution of the Range Rover Evoque. Do you have a particular favourite? We’d love to hear about it!

 

First off, it’s British

Say what you like, but we Brits, we love when our manufacturers bring amazing cars out of the bag and the Range Rover Evoque is a triumph when it comes down to it.

The first of these compact luxury crossover SUVs was produced in 2011 in three and five-door versions, and was built to appear to urban buyers and meet CO2 emissions and fuel economy.

Of course, we all know how the congestion tax has been rising, so something that looks snazzy, as well as being an excellent performer AND efficient is going to appeal to the British market.

 

Based on the LRX

You might not have realised, but the Evoque was based on the Land Rover LRX concept, which was originally unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in 2008.

Using this as its foundation, the Evoque transitioned the LRX into what is essentially a traditional Range Rover in a smaller package.

It featured a modern unibody construction for improved handling and ride quality, so as to entice buyers who primarily wanted a car for driving on the road.

The model had a 2.2-litre diesel engine and a 2.0-litre petrol unit in the range, the most efficient of which was the former, which boasted 47mpg and 133g/km of CO2 emissions on a combined cycle.

In its first year, Land Rover sold around 88,000 units of the Evoque – not a bad amount, you might agree.

 

Getting Coupé

After the original was released, a five-door model followed along with a three-door Evoque Coupé version.

Both models had four different trim levels – because who doesn’t love choice?! – which were Pure, Prestige, Pure Tech and Dynamic.

It was with changes, along with its all-terrain systems, extended ecoboost engine offerings and lighter-weight body that lead the Evoque to win a handful of awards. These have included World Design Car of the Year, SUV of the Year and Auto Express car of the Year, among others.

 

2014

This was the year that changes came to the Evoque, because although there had been several generations of the model, nothing was as big as this update.

One of the main differences was the ZF-9HP automatic transmission and various smart technologies to, basically make driving a lot easier.

A lot of these were sensors and included Closing Vehicle Sensing, Traffic Sign Recognition and Lane Departure Warning.

But we think you’ll like the Land Rover InControl connected car system the best, as it saw the introduction of hooking up your phone to your Evoque – very nifty.

 

Range Rover Evoque Autobiography Dynamic

Just when you thought the name couldn’t get any longer, right? This was a version of the model with a 281bhp and 400Nm 2.0-litre petrol engine.

It also featured sharper handling thanks to changes to its chassis, more InControl apps, contrasting colouring and materials on the interior and embossing on the seats.

There was much more to this model, but it was really a cutting edge of the Evoque family and although people thought it was going to be gimmicky at first, it’s turned out to be one of the most popular models in the whole range.

 

Others

In 2014, Land Rover introduced a Pearl Noir edition of the Evoque that was purely for the Hong Kong market that had a 2.0-litre 237bhp engine, with a ZF 9-speed automatic transmission.

Leading into next year, we’re looking at seeing a convertible version of the Range Rover Evoque… it was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 2012 and the production version revealed last year but its release date isn’t until 2017.

We’re reserving judgement for the moment. What do you think it’ll be like?