No surprise that the flurry of new tarmac-shredding smaller SUVs such as the new
Porsche Macan
GLA45 AMG
has prompted Land Rover to soup up its big-selling Evoque. From autumn this year, the three- and five-door models of the Liverpool-built, Cheshire-driven baby Range Rover will be available with a new 285hp version of the current top-spec model's 240hp 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine.
Looks hot, sadly 75hp down on GLA45 though
The new car, expected to cost around £50,000, takes a name long associated with its bigger brethren and will be called the Autobiography Dynamic. Autocar reckons that Land Rover had planned to do an even hotter RS version, but
canned it
in favour of this luxo-sports cross-breed.
If you follow this rarefied market at all, you'll know that the new Macan blazes all before it with its Turbo making 400hp from a 3.6 V6 twin-turbo, while the lower-powered S still makes 340hp from a 3.0 V6 turbo. That's a problem for the Evoque in that the Macan S will cost much less at £43,400.
Meanwhile the Mercedes AMG GLA45 (which Matt is out driving right now) has a 2.0-litre turbo like the Evoque but makes 360hp for an expected price of around £40,000.
Fastest Evoque yet but is it fast enough?
That might not matter if you look at the rest of this Autobiography package. It'll still hit 60mph in less than seven seconds, plenty for a car this size, and comes with leather seats with the usual Land Rover eye for quality in this area. We're promised that ride comfort isn't diminished despite the firmer spring rates and tweaks to the suspension geometry and active dampers. There's the brake-pinching version of torque vectoring to help it round bends, the
new nine-speed auto gearbox
for shifting smoothness and a standard fitment of the trick active driveline that stops the driveshaft to the rears from spinning when not needed but engages "seamlessly" in the muck, according to Land Rover.
At the same time the whole Evoque range will come equipped with a dash-screen technology that's becoming increasing common on new cars to 'mirror' certain car-specific apps from your smartphone onto the touchscreen in front of you.
Spot the new Autobiography from its 20-inch wheels, 'ingot' badging, and subtle tweaks to the grille design (advanced Evoque knowledge needed here).