Autobiography EVOQUE

Speaking to the original post on this car, I'm confused. They claim a better suspension by upgrading shocks -- and other photos I've seen show the MagneRide controls not there. So... this is a poser car, right? I expect it to do well in Beverly Hills where it can be parked outside Spago so valet guys can show it off to other diners. But since MagneRide is the best suspension on the planet (how is dropping it going to make the "better"? -- bouncier maybe), and the extra horse power is basically useless here (not to mention with probably worse mileage), what's the deal? The whole idea of a performance arms race between 4x4 vehicles is a bit absurd. IMHO.

How marketing can screw up a good idea! (1) Who wants to drive an orange car? (2) Limit the performance to the pedestrian, least performance looking of the two body styles – the five door version. (3) For the extra horsepower you also have to pay for every luxury option, pricing it outside of the means of most buyers. All this if all you want is an extra 45hp!

Land Rover should take the 285hp motor and tranny, the 20" wheels, the recalibrated suspension and put it all in a fuji white "Pure" three door coupe. Charge an extra $5000 above the "Pure" price and put a special performance badge on it. They would have a legend, underpricing Audi and BMW and capturing the market share of performance SUVs. Leave the "Autobiography" luxury version for the wanna be celebrities.

The badge "Autobiography" in Range Rover terms used to be something exclusive - almost coach built as cars that were ordered for Autobiography treatment used to be hand built in the Special vehicles division of LR - you couldn't have an Autobiography in a standard paint colour because there were lots of weird, exclusive colours for Autobiography and in the 1980's the price of the paint job alone was an extra £10k. The interior was bespoke and you could have anything you liked - in effect an Autobiography was a factory Kahn/ Overfinch. Now........... it's a badge stuck on the back of a "standard" production model. You used to be able to buy the rather nice cast aluminium ingot badges from an eBay supplier for £25 - I had one on the back of my unusual coloured RRS SE! I suspect LR ins't aiming this special at UK buyers, it is aiming it where the Beckham Edition was aimed - Russia and China where customers are prepared to pay more for a less common vehicle also these customs are not worried about it having only a few HP more than a standard car, they are more concerned that there won't be any others parked in the underground garage of their apartment block in downtown Shanghai or Moscow.

BTW I've been staying in a hotel in downtown Dubai for the last 36hours If you think 3 series BMW's are a common sight in the UK then New Range Rovers are 20 to dozen here and mostly the 5ltr S/C's at that and RRS is more common a sight than any BMW.

(01-03-2014 05:11pm)scrannel Wrote:  Speaking to the original post on this car, I'm confused. They claim a better suspension by upgrading shocks -- and other photos I've seen show the MagneRide controls not there. So... this is a poser car, right? I expect it to do well in Beverly Hills where it can be parked outside Spago so valet guys can show it off to other diners. But since MagneRide is the best suspension on the planet (how is dropping it going to make the "better"? -- bouncier maybe), and the extra horse power is basically useless here (not to mention with probably worse mileage), what's the deal? The whole idea of a performance arms race between 4x4 vehicles is a bit absurd. IMHO.

Agreed weird they did not spec it with magnaride

The colour is also a Jaguar option on the F Type - Fire Sand - but if you want to have an Autobiography look alike I'm sure it is possible to get a Dynamic with contrast roof wrapped in metallic orange..........

Well it has just appeared on the LR Evoque website but you cannot spec one up or price one yet! Looks like there will be two versions (aside from Coupe and Evoque) and one is only available as an SD4 Auto - not sure if it is the Grey (more restrained) one. The shots of the Grey with the Ivory special climate seats looks awesome. The Dynamic Autobiography petrol has 20% more power than the standard Si4......... http://evoque.landrover.com/gb

This car is not that bad but the engine , this is also important to me , it is a Ford engine , so I don't pay the price they want for this , I am sorry , I don't like the sound either. Not for me.....

I really like what LR has done with the Autobiography.

I have a history of modding cars and some of the biggest expenses involved end up being: Suspension, Brakes and Horsepower.

Fortuately, LR have addressed all 3 of these in this model.

Power
It looks like we get a completely new motor, albeit from a Ford. However, I can't help but feel a bit disappointed with the horsepower rating of 285. I was hoping for at least 300-330hp. 400nm of torque is excellent though. These numbers are a good starting point, with an exhaust/tune/intake I hope we can see 330hp at the fly easy.

Suspension
Without shedding too many details it seems as though improvements have been made which is always a welcome addition.

Brakes
I read somewhere that the front discs are upgraded to 350mm. This is a significant upgrade and will make a noticeable difference. These are on par with some aftermarket BBK's available for performance cars.


Plus LR has also added some tech goodies and aesthetic changes to differentiate from other models.

Overall some great additions, but they have still held it back, especially with the motor. But for most, 285hp will be more than enough. If it was available today I would have an order in already but LR don't know many details yet.

I'm having a hard time deciding between the Autobiography and the Macan S with a few options. The SD4 Dynamic I spec'd up is 115k drive away with everything I want. The Autobiography will cost at least that much but will have even more features but it looks like we're not getting it until mid-end 2015. The Macan S comes in at 130k with most options I'm after.

Don't forget that every Land Rover product still has to be able to perform well in the mud and dirt and not just on the highway - even though only a tiny number of owners will ever get mud in the wheelarches. That means that there has to be a bit of compromise and having skyhigh power doesn't help much offroad, loads of torque does though. If that compromise wasn't there we might as well all go out and buy something boring with mega power like an M series BMW or an RS Audi that cannot handle a wet road let alone an muddy field