Evoqative Drivelines

Familiar looks disguise substantial upgrades and mild-hybrid tech in Land Rover’s new Range Rover Evoque.

- Mike Duff

YOU COULD CLIMB A MOUNTAIN while protecting yourself from the elements in a $2800 Gucci jacket, or dive to the maximum depth rating of a Rolex Sea-Dweller, but few buyers of such luxury goods do. Similarly, we doubt that many owners of the new Range Rover Evoque will find themselves off-roading in Greece’s rugged Peloponnese peninsula, scraping glittering bodywork against thorn bushes and grinding the sump over rocky trails that date from when the Parthenon still had that new-temple smell. But Land Rover was happy to let us confirm that its smallest model can successfully negotiate a level of wilderness that we suspect no other compact crossover could comfortably manage.

In this regard, the second-generation Evoque sticks close to the brand’s core principle: go-anywhere capability. But it also adheres to the virtues that made its predecessor the best-selling Range Rover of all time. While the first Evoque didn’t sell in huge numbers in the U.S., where it felt both small and expensive even by the standards of its small, expensive segment, Land Rover sold more than 770,000 of them worldwide. With Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) now in full crisis mode, having recently reported a $4.4 billion loss and plans to lay off thousands of workers, we shouldn’t be surprised at how familiar the new car looks. This is the time for a greatest-hits compilation, not a daring concept album.