OMG, nearly as much attention in here as there was from phone cameras in passing cars! Even a Lambo owner on the M40 slowed down long enough to wind down his window at 70 to ask me what I thought f the car this morning!
Right:
Mine is 2.2 SD, it doesn't have a spare tyre (unlike it's owner!) , the Dynamic Plus seats are truly comfortable on a long trip, doubtless I still have a few micro adjustments to refine it but I got out of it with no aches or pains in my legs, only my shoulders (more later), the car is as comfortable on a long run as a Range Rover should be. Tyre noise is always there, especially running 20" wheels and tyres but there was no pattering or thumping on the elevated section of the M6 round Brum. Mine has come with Craptinental Cross Contacts and I would be very interested to see if it would run more quietly on Pirelli or Michelin tyres. The noise isn't loud or anything like that but it is there all the time and really shouldn't be, on the lovely new section of the M74 the car was almost totally silent. Unlike the FFRR the Evoque isn't at all disturbed by cross winds or drafts from big trucks and coaches, very impressed.
Now drive comfort - straight into the top of the 2013 factory changes will have to be arm rests. I have a problem with my right shoulder from when I fractured the ball joint and the gap between the drivers seat and the door casing is quite wide, I ended up sat at an odd angle across the seat to get my right elbow comfortable on the door capping, the door pull is too low for me too. On the left side it's the same, the cubby box is too low and too far back for comfort after having cars with a left arm rest I found at one stage I was driving with one hand, which is something I haven't done in years and don't need to in my Defender, so LR a bit of a rethink on the arm rests please. After nearly 9 hours sat in the car my shoulders and elbows were somewhat sore. The drivers door casing is also rather high due to the lovely lines of the car which doesn't help. Otherwise it is supremely comfortable. The suspension is quite amazing for a car not riding on airsprings too. I ran for over an hour with the dynamic button pressed, I didn't really notice much difference to the springing until I drove over a corrugated stretch of road and the car became quite bouncy.
The tech stuff for the last legs home:
Teebay to Abbington Service on the M74
Trip distance 93 miles
Average Speed 67mph
Average Fuel 37mpg
Arriving at Abington Services I had, according to the trip computer a range in the tank of 40 miles more than the distance remaining to run, in theory enough fuel but with 1/4 tank I refuelled with what is the most expensive diesel I have ever bought - 147.9ppl eeeeek,
it was good though to get change from £70 when putting 3/4 of a tank full of fuel in, Im used to £120 to fill up the tank!
From Abington Services to home
Distance 70 miles
Average speed 63mph - the last 16 miles from Stirling to home is on fast A roads with a 60mph limit
Average MPG 40.2.
At one stage on this leg coming down from Beattock to Hamilton the average mpg got up to 47mpg.
The car still looks good and clean despite some really heavy rain over Shap and Beattock and a lot of spray on the roads. I'm impressed that there are no streaks at all up the bonnet above the Range Rover lettering which the RRS's and the FFRR's all suffered from after a long trip in the wet. I had Gard-x paint protection applied by James's team and it looks like it could have been a good investment!.
Here it is after a 437 mile drive, 3/4 of the length of the UK
![[Image: file-16.jpg]](http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/jollyjack99/RRE/file-16.jpg)
![[Image: file-15.jpg]](http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/jollyjack99/RRE/file-15.jpg)
![[Image: file-14.jpg]](http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/jollyjack99/RRE/file-14.jpg)
![[Image: file-13.jpg]](http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/jollyjack99/RRE/file-13.jpg)
The maiden voyage!
