• New Cars
    • First Impressions
    • Road Tests
  • Classics
    • Classic Profiles
    • Classic Driving Impressions
    • Classics Information
    • Events and Days Out
  • Motoring For Fun
  • News & Views
  • Bookshelf
  • Technical
    • Grumpy Old Mechanic
    • Kim’s Tips
  • Features
    • Visits
    • Track Days
  • Contributors
    • About our contributors
    • Kim Henson
    • Chris Adamson
    • Kieron Fennelly
    • Ant Henson
    • Rachel Henson
    • David Miles
    • Gerald Morgan
    • Dave Moss
    • Dave Randle
    • Robin Roberts
    • Tom Scanlan
    • Glen Smale
    • Jeremy Walton
    • Keith Ward
    • John Price Williams
  • More…
    • About Wheels Alive
    • Tips for using this website
    • Useful Links

Wheels Alive

Old cars, new cars, borrowed cars & blue cars. If it steers it's here!

Old cars, new cars, borrowed cars & blue cars. If it steers it's here!

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

New Land Rover Evoque Convertible – a view from Chris Adamson

Author/Source: Chris Adamson

12th May 2016

Evoque14 copy

Impressions of the new Land Rover Evoque Convertible.

Evoque5Chris Adamson shares his thoughts, illustrated by some of his own photographs of the vehicle he used during his test drive…

Britain’s unpredictable weather means that motorists on our island want to make the most of any day that brings clear blue skies – and it’s blue sky thinking that has created the new Land Rover Evoque Convertible.

Just when you thought that no-one could come up with a fresh niche sector in the automotive market, up pops some bright spark to suggest chopping off the top of Land Rover’s best selling model to create a luxury compact SUV convertible – and its UK customers, they hope, will be the most enthusiastic buyers.

Of course this isn’t the motor industry’s first soft-top off-roader but it is the first to really do it with style and panache.

Of the 11,000 they can produce a year at the factory at Halewood (which is currently working 24 hours a day, seven days a week), some 2,500 of these are earmarked for staying on home soil, a triumph perhaps of hope over experience given our recent climatic swings and roundabouts.

However, this meagre allocation may not be enough, such have been the admiring glances already given to the Evoque soft-top – certainly on my day out I had plenty of people asking to see the roof going up and down.

And, as if to prove the point, on one of the days of the press launch, a local businessman turned up in his personalised Rolls-Royce and asked if he could buy two there and then and offered cash!

Land Rover could be surprised at the convertible’s popularity as they were when they first launched the Evoque in 2011 – then they predicted sales of between 65,000 and 70,000 a year, in actuality this number turned out to be closer to 120,000.

My fellow correspondent David Miles more than adequately covers the technical aspects of the new Evoque Convertible elsewhere on this site so I won’t go into too much depth here.

On the Road

One of the complaints about the hard-top Evoque, and I was among those who voiced it, is the lack of rear visibility through the letter box style rear screen created by its signature sloping roof.

By retaining the same shape for the fabric top of the convertible this hadn’t improved, that is of course until you retract the roof out of sight (a process that takes 18 seconds and can be done at speeds of up to 30 mph – and don’t imagine I didn’t try it), then things improve but the high rear end still limits what you can glimpse behind you.

However, it’s not where you have been but where you are going that is going to be important and the commanding view ahead makes for a feeling of assurance.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

While the cabin itself is capacious enough and certainly well appointed (Land Rover is only making the Convertible in the top two trim levels) with an almost restrained use of materials that gives it a surprisingly sophisticated air, there are some practical niggles.

The 251 litre (8.86 cu.ft) luggage compartment is arranged horizontally through a low set upright lid, which isn’t particularly easy to utilise, and could be prone to objects rolling out.

To get the best wind protection you need the rear wind-stop in place, eliminating access to the rear seats which, even without the wind-stop, still require an acrobatic exercise shimmying past the front seats.

But travel two-up and the convertible really rewards, with hardly a ripple of wind intruding into a cockpit that is remarkably quiet both with and without the roof in place.

Despite chopping off the top (extra strengthening in the A pillar compensates for this) the convertible rides and handles with great gusto and, yes, there is some inevitable scuttle shake over uneven surfaces but for a generous sized four by four it is well composed and sits nice and assuredly on the road.

One of the best features is the highly responsive steering, very direct and quick to act; it is almost like being in a sporting saloon rather than a rock hopper.

This encourages drivers to make the best use of the quiet and refined diesel power unit that can punch in acceleration when required, with the minimum of fuss thanks to the installation of a nine-speed (yes nine!) automatic transmission.

One of the great joys of this Evoque is paddling through the gears which, for an automatic, gives the driver a real sense of control and involvement – you keep praying for an open stretch of road just to have an excuse to see the number nine come up on the dashboard display.

This does have a downside… I managed a feeble 28.3 mpg fuel return on three hours at the wheel.

Underpinned by Land Rover’s all-terrain heritage there is no doubting the Evoque’s go-anywhere capabilities, however, I suspect the Terrain Response, Wade Sensing and All-Terrain Progress Control systems are hardly going to be called upon for most owners.

What the Evoque Convertible does is make a bold statement of strong British engineering that underpins everything here; industry leading, trend-setting British design and a sprinkle of sheer bravado.

Verdict

With prices starting at over £47,000 this isn’t cheap motoring (and a £5,000 premium over the tin-top version) but currently it’s about the only way you can get open-air off-roading in style and luxury – form an orderly queue please.

Save Post as PDF

Categories: Chris Adamson, First Impressions

Tip: For improved search accuracy, enclose search terms for multiple words in quotation marks. For example:
"Land Rover".

Advertise with us

Recent Posts

‘Beep-Beep, Yeah!’ exhibition to open at The British Motor Museum

Suzuki’s 55 Years of ALLGRIP 4×4 Technology celebrated

New dig to start at shipbuilding village as Buckler’s Hard Shipyard Trust launches

XPeng G6 long range – Road Test

A summer of fun at Beaulieu

Lakeland Motor Museum kicks off the start of The Club Triumph Coast 2 Coast Run

The Motor Ombudsman marks nearly one million contacts as ADR Regulations reach a decade of service

INEOS Grenadier ups its game with portal axle collaboration

Contributors

contributors

Our well-respected contributors live and breathe motor cars; aren’t we lucky?

Contributors to the site include talented, highly-respected people (so they tell me) on the hallowed membership list of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and from the similarly well thought-of Western Group of Motoring Writers. In addition there are valued contributions from other knowledgeable and capable motoring writers who have something useful to say about all aspects of driving and running vehicles in the 21st Century. All of our team are passionate about motor cars!


Read about our contributors  ››

Tags

Beaulieu EV The Motor Ombudsman five door hatchback hatchback Hybrid Estate car MPV Electric Seven seater SUV luxury SUV all-electric SUV British Motor Museum Tyres large SUV plug-in hybrid estate Suzuki City car road test crossover Coupé First Impressions 4x4 saloon PHEV Compact SUV Kia National Motor Museum

All Tags ››

Like us on Facebook

Like us on Facebook

Wheels Alive Social

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Please share our website

Contact us

We welcome your questions, comments and feedback. Please click here to contact us.

Advertising Opportunities

Please contact us if you would like to discuss advertising opportunities on Wheels Alive.

Copyright © 2025 Kim Henson, Wheels Alive