[ĐÁNH GIÁ XE] Range Rover Evoque 2020 - urban car but still interesting off-road

After 8 years on the market, Range Rover Evoque – Land Rover’s most popular small crossover model has always been a formidable name in its segment, despite more and more new competitors appearing. Currently, Evoque has entered the latest 2020 version, the car has many improvements, especially in off-road capabilities, to increase its appeal to customers.

To learn more about the Range Rover Evoque 2020, the research team of the automotive site Motor1 took a two-day trip with the Evoque 2020, a journey across Greece starting from the capital Athens (in the south) to the resort village of Kranidi in the Argolis region of the Peloponnese. All participants had an extremely enjoyable experience!

General overview

Entering its second life cycle, the Range Rover Evoque has been significantly updated in appearance to suit modern trends and customer needs, however, overall the new Evoque is still not too far away from the first generation. But that’s not a big problem because from the beginning, Evoque’s design was highly appreciated. The proof is that in the first year of production, up to 80,000 Evoques were sold – a number that shows the market’s enthusiastic reception for this car model.

The second generation Range Rover Evoque is built on Jaguar Land Rover’s new Premium Transverse Architecture platform, which is a mixed metal platform that stretches the Evoque’s wheelbase from 2,659mm to 2,682mm, and the width is also widened to the point that the new Evoque’s body only shares the door hinges with the old platform.

Land Rover set two goals when applying the new platform for the Evoque: improving vehicle noise and vibration and preparing for the electric powertrain. Through testing in Greece, the Motor1 team said Land Rover’s first goal had been completely accomplished.

Impressive driving experience

They say the Evoque has very good noise control, with virtually no tire roar entering the cabin (even with the oversized wheels and tires, the test car had the optional 21-inch wheels – a first for the Evoque). The strong winds during the journey, even when the wind was so strong that it made it difficult for the Evoque to merge, almost disappeared in the cabin.

Quieter, better soundproofing, the 2020 Range Rover Evoque continues to surprise with its incredible sports suspension system, right from the standard setting, it is enough to bring a strong driving feeling to the small crossover.

Of course, Evoque still has weaknesses that cannot be ignored. The first is that the front wheels have less traction than the rear wheels (Understeer), so the front of the car is often pushed horizontally out when cornering at high speed, which causes the turning radius to increase. To overcome this, drivers need to buy some additional options such as adaptive dampers (715 USD) or active suspension system (355 USD), this duo will help Evoque be much more confident on winding roads with many sharp turns.

It is known that the 2020 Evoque used in the test is the P250 version using a 2.0L 4-cylinder turbocharged engine with 246 horsepower and maximum torque of 365Nm. Customers in the US have another option: the P300 version uses a 48V hybrid powertrain for a total capacity of 296 horsepower and maximum torque of 400Nm. In the European market, both versions of the Evoque 2020 are supported by a 48V electrical system.

If you don’t need a muscular crossover, the P250 version is a more suitable choice, the base engine has a wide, easily accessible torque curve, suitable for urban roads, mixed roads – true to the original production purpose of the Evoque.

The standard 9-speed automatic transmission of the Evoque 2020 plays a very important role in driving and handling the Evoque. The P250 version takes 7 seconds to accelerate from 0 – 96 km/h before reaching a maximum speed of 230 km/h, while the P300 only needs 6.3 seconds to do the same, the maximum speed reaches 241 km/h. The test car proved to be quite aggressive at every throttle acceleration from 72.5 km/h to 104.6 km/h, but was slower when increasing from 96.5 km/h to 129 km/h.

However, acceleration is not the most important thing on the new Evoque, this position belongs to the vehicle’s off-road features. Originally born to serve customers who often have to travel in the city and in daily life, Evoque has now had to innovate to keep up with the current trend, which is that any crossover should have off-road capabilities, even if it is a super high-end SUV like the Bentley Bentayga.

Fortunately, the 2020 Evoque has achieved this, the car possesses a full-time 4-wheel drive system AWD combined with the 2nd generation Active Driveline and Driveline Disconnect system to both save fuel and enhance off-road. The new Adaptive Dynamics system optimizes comfort and agility.

In addition, the vehicle is also equipped with the Terrain Response 2 terrain driving control system to help detect road surface conditions, thereby flexibly adjusting torque between the wheels; with ClearSight Ground View technology, using hidden cameras in the grille and under each rearview mirror to scan images right under the front of the vehicle, helping the driver to see 180 degrees in detail of the terrain in front of the vehicle to avoid obstacles and handle difficult situations. The car also has a ClearSight Rear View Mirror with a camera located in the rear window to assist with parking when needed. The Evoque 2020’s wading ability is also very impressive, up to 600mm.

Overall, drivers can expect smooth, pleasant journeys with precise driving feel on a new Evoque. Remarkable off-road capabilities are a big plus for Evoque.

The exterior design changes little but still has a certain impact

The updates to the appearance of the Range Rover Evoque 2020 are nothing outstanding, everything is very subtle, even if you are not a fan of four-wheeled vehicles or especially love the Range Rover, it is difficult to distinguish the new Evoque from the old when placing the two cars in two different places. Range Rover wants that even in the new generation, people will still easily recognize Evoque, the sports crossover model will not be confused with any other name.

In addition to lengthening the wheelbase, to give the Evoque 2020 a more attractive body ratio, the British automaker has removed the plastic wheel arches, besides, the front grille has been refined, becoming narrower than before, and the headlights are also slimmer. The front and rear air vents with slim taillight design are similar to those on the Velar.

Meanwhile, the car’s interior has been improved quite a lot, especially focusing on rearranging the layout of the cockpit so that it is scientific and neat. Of course, the details in the car are still placed beautifully horizontally, the car also uses high quality materials (optional for each version). Besides, the physical buttons have almost disappeared, instead most of the car’s functions are integrated into the touch screen in the center.

In terms of aesthetics, having two screens in the middle cluster looks very nice and modern, but in fact it is not appreciated because of its poor sensitivity, and on the screen below – which contains features to adjust the air conditioning system, driving mode, seat heating/cooling, there is no haptic feedback. Land Rover should add more haptic feedback to the screen below so that the driver can easily know whether their operation has been accepted or not instead of having to look at the screen to determine, this directly affects the driver’s concentration.

The test car belongs to the P250 version, the base S configuration comes with the R-Dynamic package (in the US, the R-Dynamic package is only for the P300 version), but the car still uses high-quality leather on the seats and dashboard. You can rest assured that no matter which version of the Evoque 2020 you choose, you will get a very premium-looking cabin.

Conclude

Although announced as the second generation, the new Land Rover Range Rover Evoque feels as if it is a comprehensive upgrade with an exterior design that does not have many differences, the improvements that Land Rover’s designers and engineers provided for the 2020 model only help to increase the inherent advantages of the premium compact crossover from the UK.

Of course, the 2020 Evoque is not a perfect crossover. According to Motor1’s assessment, Land Rover needs to better balance its technology focus on design, because, at times, the Evoque feels like its form completely overwhelms its function. In today’s market, Volvo XC40 or Audi Q3 are Evoque’s direct competitors. These are all very famous names so Evoque needs to make more efforts.

Nhuoc Hi (Tuoitrethudo)

According to: Motor1