Soft top Evoque finally out of the closet

AFTER teasing the world for years, Land Rover has finally unveiled the Range Rover Evoque Convertible.

The designers describe this go-almost-anywhere cabrio as a “no compromise” vehicle for all-seasons. It is the first Range Rover that can shed its top, yet inside you will find all the knobs and dials that gave Range Rover its luxury title.

Gerry McGovern, Land Rover design director and chief creative officer, dismissed fears of scuttleshake, stating: “The Evoque Convertible has been engineered to meet Land Rover’s most
rigorous standards, ensuring exceptional structural rigidity, trademark refinement, outstanding levels of safety and unrivalled breadth of capability.”

Breadth of capability is the new buzzword at Landy, but whatever it means, the sturdy good looks of the Evoque in topless form will be sure to garner this fifth member of the Ranger Rover family a more than fair percentage of sales in the global SUV market, which is forecast to grow by 20% over the next five years.

McGovern said Ranger Rover is pioneering an all-new SUV sector in the Evoque Convertible, and predicted the car will play a key role in continuing Range Rover’s 45-year success story.

The fully automated roof stows in 18 seconds and can be raised in 21 seconds, even while driving up to 48 km/h. Safety hasn’t been overlooked, with a Roll-Over Protection Device featuring deployable roll-over bars hidden in the rear bodywork. It deploys two aluminium bars within 90 milliseconds in the unlikely event of a roll-over situation, to create a survival space for occupants.

McGovern said that with the top up the Evoque Convertible is as quiet as the hard-top version and, bonus, with the roof lowered there is still 251 litres of boot space.

Land Rover said the group’s new high-resolution 10,2-inch touchscreen infotainment system debuts in this Evoque, with highly responsive and super-fast seamless smartphone integration, door-to-door navigation, 3G connectivity and a premium sound system.

Land Rover’s all-aluminium four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines, and nine-speed automatic transmission, power the Evoque, underpinned by Land Rover’s all-terrain ability with a choice of four-wheel-drive powertrains, Terrain Response® system, Wade Sensing and All-Terrain Progress Control, to ensure Evoque really is a convertible for all seasons, as Landy claims.

The new Range Rover Evoque Convertible will be produced at Land Rover’s Halewood plant in the UK, alongside the five-door and coupé body styles, and goes on sale from May 2016, in more than 170 markets worldwide, including South Africa.

Pricing will start at £47 500 in the UK, which currently translates to a over a million rands in SA, excluding import taxes.

But this model has been anticipated for so long that Land Rover dealerships in KZN expect to have more demand than models. Land Rover in Pietermaritzburg therefore advises customers who want to drive one of these exclusive Evoques, to drop in and register their interest early. — WR.