Friday 17th August 2012

PH Blog: best of British

The Evoque's settling in nicely on the fleet and benefitting from a patriotic bounce

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Funny thing this Evoque of ours. It's quite clearly Not My Kind Of Car. I'm not a huge fan of SUVs, tend away from gadgets and bling, prefer manual gearboxes and, where possible, naturally aspirated engines. And I've never liked the Spice Girls.

Yet here I am in possibly the most style over content car on the market, laden with all the toys Land Rover could lavish (quite a few, it turns out), powered by a turbocharged engine through an automatic gearbox and, to many minds, forever associated with Victoria Beckham. And I think it's absolutely brilliant, apart from the Posh Spice bit.

More style over content, even worse visibility

Maybe I'm still cresting a post-Olympics wave of national pride or something. But every time I walk up to the Evoque I get a 'good on you!' sense that this is a good news car. Actually, it genuinely is a good news car. In the same week that it unveiled the new, export friendly Range RoverLand Rover has confirmed that the Halewood factory that builds the Evoque has taken on another 1,000 people and, as of this week, is now working three shifts over a 24-hour cycle to keep up with demand. Land Rover has built nearly 90,000 of the things too, those 4,500 people now working on the Evoque clearly very busy folk indeed. Still not convinced on the feel-good factors? Try the £3bn worth of suppliers' contracts or £2bn export value of all those cars going overseas.

As I say, it's not necessarily my kind of car. But I do appreciate how bold it still looks, even with relative familiarity. And it's crisp and assured to drive too and, again, full of feel-good stuff.

I have managed to find a car with visibility possibly even worse though, that car being the Camaro we just had delivered. Shocking blindspots aside these cars share, I think, a similar spirit in that they're as much fun to be seen in as they are to use as merely functional transport. Any car can do that bit. These ones just liven your day a bit. And, to your particular tastes or not, who can begrudge that.

Dan

[TNH]

I think these look fantastic. Seriously considering one of these to replace my current car.

[zygalski]

Sorry... ugly as.
Looks like a giant stomped on it.

[PascalBuyens]

Don't think the Camaro is that bad with regards to blind spots, except for the 3/4 rear view...

[toppstuff]

Love the car and the success it generates.

Like you, the Beckham connection makes me wince.

And although superficially pretty, the tiny windows of the Evoque make it a no-go for me.

I'm hoping the improved capabilities of the car will find their way into the Freelander, which is clearly beaten now in terms of capability.

A refreshed Freelander with Evoque capabilities in a less compromised, fashion-victim format, would suit me.

Nice Chevvy by the way.

[TTmonkey]

The three door is just sooooo small. It could do with being 20% larger for me.


£45k off with all the toys. That's a lot of money.

[will261058]

If the front of the new Range Rover is based on the front of the Evoque, then they failed big time!

[Dave Hedgehog]

ironic i hate the giant RR with a passion but i love the evoque which is far more sensibly sized and does not look like a brick on wheels

and its great to hear its creating new jobs in the UK in these terrible economic times

[famfarrow]

Everytime I see an Evoque on the road I cant help thinking how very smart they look,especially in Grey. However the same cant be said for those in Recession White with the obligatory Black Wheels, looks far to 'blingy'.

What Model Camaro is it?

[LuS1fer]

I hate people who put two V's in Chevy!

The only thing I have against the Camaro is that it is enormous. I saw one recently in Spain and it really doesn't need to be that big. the next Mustang is downsizing and I hope the Camaro follows.

I didn't like the Evoque initially but there is no doubting it is extremely popular. the only thing I can't understand is how so many people seem able to afford them.

The other mystery for me is how Jaguar and Land Rover seemed to struggle under Ford and Tata come along and suddenly they are the cars to have. Why is that?

[TheFungle]

TTmonkey said:

The three door is just sooooo small. It could do with being 20% larger for me.


£45k off with all the toys. That's a lot of money.

All new cars are a lot of money these days.

[Twoshoe]

Have to say, the Evoque is not my type of vehicle either, but I too think they look fantastic (apart from the grill which always reminds my of the foil bit of an electric razor)

[toppstuff]

LuS1fer said:

I hate people who put two V's in Chevy!
The other mystery for me is how Jaguar and Land Rover seemed to struggle under Ford and Tata come along and suddenly they are the cars to have. Why is that?

TATA timed their purchase well. JLR was already getting well established with substantial improvements in design and quality ( notably Jaguar, who have been doing exceptionally well in the JD Power surveys ) and they also were well advanced in new designs. TATA have taken them on with all of these assets and improvements already in the pipeline, thrown money at them to let them capitalise on their opportunity and ( critically ) let a talented team of people do their jobs.

JLR are thriving under TATA but I think the seeds were sown before they bought them. It was clearly a wise move.

The only blot on things for enthusiasts for me is the closing down of the heritage centre. Jaguar and Land Rover are both brands that deserve to have their heritage and their futures celebrated - if you look at Mercedes and BMW for example, they celebrate this through facilities like the ones in Brooklands and Stuttgart. JLR should build similar iconic places to celebrate their businesses as well IMO.

[rustytools]

hahah now you mention it, the grille does remind me of an electric razor!

Apart from that, on looks alone I think its great, especially in that colour.

[Guvernator]

I love the fact that they've sold so many of these. It means once all the fashionista get bored of them and move them on in a couple of years time, the market will be flooded with used examples and I'll be able to snap one up for half the price. £40k is too much money for this car but at £20k, a 5 door version will make a lovely daily.

[Salom]

It looks like a Tesco Phat Wheel to me, pretty though...

[Stuart]

I'm the pointer at the naked emporer on the team about the Evoque, so I'm in it for a few days, not least because it appears on my car list (yes, not all of us drive around in press cars here) so could be a real world purchase for me.

Except that it won't be. Not so far at least.

I need to make up my mind after the weekend, but I just can't reconcile my fundamental issues with this car:

- It's just too small in the right places for me right now. I have two small children, and whilst the back seats are really quite generous, I'm one of those buyers who needs rear seats for their isofix fittings, and to dump stuff in the rear footwells. Unfortunately this rear seat space comes at a cost for the boot, which feels TINY. Right now, I need a bigger boot. Particularly when the big wheels and rear diff eat into the width and depth. We're going out for the day in it on Saturday, which will require us to pack a double buggy and the European raisin mountain for my daughter. We'll see.

- I drive a diesel as a daily, so I'm prepared to accept that this opinion might be driven by diesel brain, but I don't like the engine. I find it quite hard to waft in this thing, and colleagues who've driven it over distance have really struggled to achieve decent MPG. Is it because the engine is working hard perhaps? It just feels too revvy, and that makes smooth urban driving hard. Not a problem (in fact desirable) in an MX-5 or a hot hatch, but not what I'm looking for here.

- I have an issue with all JLR aircon/stereo/nav control panels, and this is no different. You can really feel the difference in investment between this and something from an Audi/BMW/Merc. Yes, those firms are much bigger and can develop crisper and more user friendly. It feels like a poor relation, like watching SD TV when you've been used to 1080p HD, and I know that this would bug the hell out of me if I owned it.

Let's see how I get on after the weekend.

[Hellbound]

Guvernator said:

I love the fact that they've sold so many of these. It means once all the fashionista get bored of them and move them on in a couple of years time, the market will be flooded with used examples and I'll be able to snap one up for half the price. £40k is too much money for this car but at £20k, a 5 door version will make a lovely daily.

Yup, I wouldn't go as far as saying this wasn't my sort of vehicle as I'm pretty much open to owning anything if it ticked enough boxes for me at the time. They're already heading towards the mid 20's and I think prices will slow at around the mid to late teens depending on spec. Only downsides are that they're not very frugal and the high LR servicing costs if you're not near an independent.

To misquote the late Steve Jobs, it's how it makes you feel that's important. A Toyota RAV4, though more capable as an off-roader, just doesn't stir up the same emotions.

Some people get that, others don't and think it's all vulgar, tasteless showy nonsense. Those people are boring dullards who like to transport themselves from point A to point B without feeling anything.

[RacerMike]

In reference to my comment on the new Range Rover thread, what exacty about the Evoque is 'bling'. It's a term banded around PH (almost exclusively for SUVs it would seem) and in all honesty, I can't understand/see what is 'Bling' about the Evoque that isn't either legislative (DRLs) or just an expression of modern car design trends (huge wheels). Bling to me would mean acres of chrome, some kind of tribal graphics and chrome spinners....none of which I saw on the options list when I last looked!

Topstuff: The Heritage Centre is still very much open and will remain so. It's the Jag heritage collection at Browns Lane that is closing to the public unfortunately. Still plenty of old LRs, Jags and MGs in the Heritage Centre st Gaydon though...and whilst it would be great if they could build something like Mercedes Brooklands, I suspect money has something to do with it!

[Mastiff]

toppstuff said:

A refreshed Freelander with Evoque capabilities in a less compromised, fashion-victim format, would suit me.

I'd hold fire for a minute if I were you.......

[LuS1fer]

I wouldn't call it bling either. It's very much identifiable as a "fashion victim" car though, like the MINI (especially the fugly Countryman), Super Dry, Hollister etc but like the iPhone, you can't help but think they nailed what they were trying to achieve - a Gucci handbag LR.