It’s confirmed, the Range Rover Evoque will have its top taken off and make a public debut at the LA Motor Show later this month. We saw the Evoque Convertible concept 3 years ago at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. Since we hadn’t heard anything about it since then, we assumed the project was dead in the water.
But Land Rover seems to have found a feasible business case for a posh, two-door, convertible SUV. Makes some sense I guess given today’s consumer’s demand for anything slightly ‘off-roady’.
So what do you get with the top off? Said top of the Evoque is a five-fabric layer affair that takes 18 seconds to fold away and 21 seconds to raise. The roof does get hidden away, unlike that on a Mini or Beetle convertible. The roof operation can be done at speeds of up to 50 km/h.
As with the two-door Evoque, or Evoque Coupe as Land Rover calls it, there are four full-sized seats which can accommodate adult humans. The Evoque Coupe’s sloping roofline did make it a bit tight in the rear for adults but the Convertible addresses this issue. Also inside, there’s Land Rover’s updated InTouch Control Pro infotainment system.
Being a Land Rover it’ll still be able to perform off-road as well as it will on road. As you can see from the official photos released by Land Rover, the Evoque Convertible can take on snow, sand, and tarmac with ease. Just don’t go thinking this has any sporty aspirations. I doubt Land Rover were thinking about Nurburgring lap times when they were designing this.
The engines available are identical to that of the Coupe, so a turbo petrol or a turbo diesel. Power will be sent to all four-wheels via a 9-speed auto. It’s quite a heavy thing too, with the weight just shy of 2000kg. It’s no surprise then the 0-100 km/h times aren’t anything to be excited about; just 8.3 seconds for the petrol and 10.3 seconds for the diesel.
It might sound like I’m not entirely convinced by the idea of a convertible SUV, and you’d be right. Remember the Nissan Murano Convertible? No? Because no one does. At least the Evoque does have it’s (subjective) looks and the right badge on its side.
The Evoque has already proven itself to be a hit success for the British marque and the Convertible version will surely add to that. Land Rover expects the soft-top to make up a tenth of all Evoque sales.
I have no doubt in my mind the Evoque Convertible will be able to live to those expectations. There are enough WAGs and Real Housewives to buy them. So it makes sense for the Evoque Convertible to make its world debut in LA then. You can’t say a lot of things about Land Rover, but you can’t say they don’t know their audience well.
