The Range Rover Evoque is pretty, but is it worth it?
The compact SUV is wonderful-looking, drives well and has a luxury interior, but do we need a little Range Rover that costs $42,000?
The Evoque is closely related to the other little Land Rover, the LR2, and both cars are built at the same plant in Halewood, England. But with a vehicle line of only five cars (two being other Range Rovers), is there space for another small Land Rover SUV?
Technically, the Evoque is a crossover, but unlike most neutered SUVs, the little Range Rover is capable off-road. And with a new nine speed transmission to be unveiled at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show next week, the Evoque will be even better conquering mud and rocks and sand.
But starting at $42,000, the Range Rover Evoque is not cheap. Of course, mentioning that a car made by Land Rover is expensive is like stating that apes do, in fact, like eating bananas. The thing about the Evoque’s price tag is not that it is expensive, but rather that there is another luxury compact SUV offered by the company for $5,000 less. And here we see the heart of problem: the Evoque is a Range Rover, and the LR2 is a Land Rover.
What’s the difference? Land Rovers, like the famous Defender, are capable off-road machines meant to take you anywhere on Earth, and just happen to cost a lot of money. Range Rovers on the other hand, are fancy, expensive, rolling status boxes, that just happen to be highly capable off-road machines. And with that in mind, it’s clear that the new Evoque fits just fine within the company’s stable, especially the side of the stable where the other Range Rovers sip champagne and snack on caviar.
It's important to note that the Evoque does go from zero to 60 in one second less than the LR2, while weighing 9 pounds more.
So is the Range Rover Evoque worth the money? Yeah. Sure. Probably. It’s a capable, luxurious little SUV that looks great and won’t get stuck in the mud. Plus, if you’re standing in a Land Rover dealership, we’d make a wager that frugality is not a top priority.
