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The Range Rover Evoque has been given a thorough once-over. It still looks much as before with only a few nips and tucks, but almost all the MONEY has been spent under that very pretty skin. Efficiency improves with a new family of diesel engines and there's some exciting equipment choices also on offer. It's still the one the rest are aiming at.

Background

If rivalMANUFACTURERS were hoping that the success of the Range Rover Evoque was about to let up, they've been disappointed. Land Rover has kept its premium compact SUV on top of its game with a whole series of significant updates - and these have come not so long after a previous series of changes that introduced the car's segment-leading nine-speed ZF auto gearbox. This time round, the Evoque's looking to stay on top of the pile courtesy of some styling updates, some fresh engines and a range of improved safety kit. Is it enough? Nobody's really got to within touching distance of the Evoque in terms of desirability in its division, so we're going to go out on a limb and say yes. It's really not that much of a punt.

Driving Experience

It's a brave new world at Land Rover right now. The Freelander's gone and the Discovery Sport has appeared, but the big news might well be the development of the Ingenium engines that look to put the company on a similar efficiency footing as the best of the Germans and Japanese. The Evoque gets the aluminium Ingenium diesel engine, built at the company's shiny new £500m EngineMANUFACTURING Centre in the West Midlands. This TD4 unit is 20-30kg lighter than its predecessor and delivers low levels of vibration and noise intrusion. It's offered to Evoque customers in two states of tune: 150PS in the economy-oriented eD4 front-wheel drive model, and 180PS if you prefer a bit more poke and can't do without all-wheel drive. Should you want to go faster still, you can buy the Evoque with the punchy 240PS Si4 petrol engine. This propels a three-door car through 62mph in just 7.6 seconds and on to a top speed of 135mph. The nine-speed ZF transmission is available and it's an option you really need to tick. It shifts between gears so quickly that ZF reckons it's "below the threshold of perception". An adaptive shift programme quickly matches the driving style and includes a memory function. A Torque Vectoring by Braking feature further enhances agility and safety by redirecting torque to counteract understeer. Off-road ability is enhanced with the fitment of All-Terrain Progress Control. This function maintains a pre-determined speed - selected using the cruise control function - in forward or reverse gears between 1.1mph and 19mph, allowing the driver to concentrate on negotiating tricky terrain.

Design And Build

Land Rover needed to keep the Evoque looking contemporary without diluting its inherent appeal. Evoque's highly desirable design is a hallmark of this luxurious compact SUV. The latest design tweaks help it look even wider and lower thanks to slimline LED fog lamps and enlarged air intakes at the front, along with two revised grille designs. Full LED headlights are available as an option and the bonnet vents previously seen only on the three-door models are introduced on five-door HSE Dynamic and Autobiography specifications. A tailgate spoiler now includes a wider, slimmer high-level LED rear brake light. The alloy wheel selection has been revised, as has the palette of exterior colours. The changes continue inside with updated seats and higher-quality soft-touch materials used for the door casings. The instrument binnacle has also been redesigned. Buyers still choose between three and five-door models, the key difference between which is the amount of room in the back of the car. Go for the five-door and the roofline is subtly re-profiled such that there's 30mm of additional headroom. The rear row of seats, with seat belts and head restraints for three passengers, have 60/40 folding squabs and are equipped with ISOFIX child seat mounts. When required, luggage capacity can be expanded to a healthy1,445-litres. The three-door has a boot that is a little smaller, measuring 550-litres with the seats in place and 1,350 with them folded.

Market And Model

As before, pricing starts at around the £30,000 mark and there's a choice of either a five-door bodystyle or the three-door 'Coupe', both derivatives equally priced (though the Coupe offers a slimmed-down model range). As for spec, well Land Rover trim levels have often chopped and changed with quite dizzying regularity, so it's good to see that the company has at last introduced some measure of consistency across models. Gone are the old Pure, Prestige and Dynamic models and in comes some trim levels aligned to match those of the Range Rover Sport: SE, SE TECH, HSE Dynamic, HSE DYNAMIC LUX and Autobiography. Even the base trim is well equipped, with the SE featuring an eight-inch InControl Touch touchscreen infotainment system. This allows users to swipe between screens just like a smartphone. If necessary, the six-speaker stereo system can be upgraded to include SD-card based satellite navigation, with DAB radio featuring as standard across the range. Step up to the HSE Dynamic or Autobiography models and you get InControl Touch Plus, which comprises HDD-based navigation, a rear-seat entertainment system complete with a pair of eight-inch video screens and wireless digital headphones, and an 11- or 17-speaker Meridian audio system. A hands-free tailgate function of the type where you wave a foot under the rear bumper has also been offered. Safety features available include Lane-Keeping Assist, which uses a stereo digital camera, and Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) which prevents low-speed rear-enders. Attention Assist Estimation sounds audible alarms and visual warnings signal if it thinks the driver is showing signs of drowsiness.

Cost Of Ownership

One of the biggest drivers for this Evoque's development is to improve efficiency. The all-aluminium diesel engine delivers fuel economy of up to 68mpg and low carbon dioxide emissions from just 109g/km in front-wheel drive guise. Even if you choose the more powerful 180PS unit, it'll still manage 59 miles from a gallon of derv with CO2 emissions from 125g/km. The 150PS entry-level diesel is some 18% more fuel efficient compared to its predecessor. That's a huge advantage. Land Rover has included variable valve timing and a series of low friction technologies. Selective catalytic reduction and low-pressure exhaust gas recirculation system significantly reduce NOx emissions. Even the 240PS petrol engine doesn't do too badly on the juice,RETURNING 36mpg on the combined cycle with emissions of 181g/km. That hasn't changed from the old car though. The Range Rover Evoque also adopts low CO2 systems such as Electric Power-Assisted Steering and is built to maximise end of life recyclability. With such high demand and a distinctly finite plant capacity at the Halewood factory, residual values have remained very strong. It aces the Audi Q5 on residuals to such an extent that a comparable Audi costs more than 20 per cent more to run over a typical three-year ownership tenure.