BY DANIEL DEGASPERI | 20th Jul 2018
QUITE suddenly the Range Rover Evoque has decided that it wants to be a hot hatchback.
Five years after the baby of the range lobbed, the top model grade has upgraded from a Ford-based 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine with 177kW of power and 340Nm of torque, to a Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) unit of the same configuration, tagged Ingenium and with a choice of two outputs – the same as before, or as-tested here with 213kW and 400Nm.
Moving from standstill to 100km/h now takes 6.3 seconds, down from the 7.6s last claimed, and it has also since upgraded to nine gears inside its automatic transmission instead of six previously.
However, with this new P290 HSE Dynamic, the price of the flagship model grade moves up by a whole $11K compared with the pre-MY18 versions last year. The question is, can the Evoque continue to be part-luxury SUV, part-off-roader, but now add part-hot hatch to its repertoire?