The 2012 Range Rover Evoque

last updated 10 January 2015

Automobile

The modish, “road-friendly” Evoque suggests a new direction for its go-anywhere brand—call it “stylish sustainability.” This luxurious yet capable compact crossover uses recycled aluminum and plastic in its “upscale trim materials,” and it provides efficient all-wheel-drive fuel economy, rated at 19 mpg city and 28 highway. Options include a panoramic sunroof, which saves no fuel but affords passengers “an expansive view of the heavens above.”

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Despite its diminutive size and eco-conscious detailing, this crossover is no “cut-price alternative” to higher-cost SUVs. It offers the same Rover-exclusive Terrain Response system that effortlessly adapts to on- or off-road driving conditions, the same “predictably vast” options list, and an interior with “a neat mix of leather, wood, aluminum, and high-grade plastics.” We won’t be surprised if the Evoque “becomes the best-selling Range Rover ever.”

Available as either a three- or five-door coupe, the Evoque has capabilities that “far surpass what its expected buyers will ever use it for.” Thanks to that Terrain Response system, it can cut trails and ford streams just as its forebears did. But this “hip little Range Rover” will spend most of its time on paved roads, where it drives more like “a sports wagon with decent ground clearance” than a four-wheel-drive truck.