It was only a matter of time before this happened, the Range Rover Evoque Convertible combines the practicality of an SUV with the fun of a convertible.
I’m hoping you can actually see me because the weather has taken a turn for the worse this afternoon. We’ve been up here in Courchevel, France for a couple of days now, putting the Evoque convertible through its paces in urban environments, on motorways and of course, up here in the snow.
Based on the three-door Evoque coupe – the convertible retains the same dimensions through to that rising waistline.
The roof is the widest and longest fitted to a production car. It opens in 18 seconds and closes in 21-seconds at speeds of up to around 50km an hour.
With no roof, it needs additional structural support including steel doorsills, bracing under the car and boron in the a-pillars. That all adds around 280kg.
Inside you’ve got all the trimmings of the standard Evoque, with the addition of the button to open the roof of course.
The convertible is the first Land Rover to this 10.2-inch touchscreen with In Control Touch Pro, we’ve only seen that so far in the Jaguar XF.
The room taken up by the roof mechanism has reduced boot space to 251-litres, though we managed to fit luggage for two people for a couple of days in.
There’s also only two seats in the back, rather than the three in the standard Evoque.
Our test drive began at the Lyon airport, and would cover around 450km in around seven hours over the two days.
We hit 130km an hour on the motorway, navigated the narrow roads through country villages, and put it through its paces on hairpins as we wound our way up to the Alps.
The windscreen is quite high and so are the windows so it protects you from a lot of that wind.
This is available in two trim levels, the SE Dynamic and HSE Dynamic with two-engines a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol and the new ‘Ingenium’ 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel.
All of the Evoque convertibles are 4WD and come with a nine-speed automatic transmission.
To help verify the convertible’s off-road credentials, once we reached Courchevel there was a series of obstacles and exercises to demonstrate its capability.
There’s been a lot of work done to the structure and it is amazing just how rigid it is. Over all of the surfaces we’ve driven this car on the rides been a little firm over bumps but overall really comfortable.
Tackling the snow course, the clever traction and stability systems loosen up so you can have a bit of fun without losing confidence in the car.
This is an exciting step in a new direction for SUV buyers. The Range Rover Evoque convertible looks fantastic; it’s a lot of fun on the road and off-road. You really get the best of all worlds.
