Autocar 27 August

Two Evoque items, one large - Used Evoque ED4 versus new Qashqai 2WD and in the comparisons at the end if the road test of the X4 3.0tD it is rated 3rd behind Macan 3.0 and the Alpina x3 BiTurbo , with the comment that while the Evoque seriously lacks poke in the class, it more than holds it's own on quality and kit. X4 was 5th out of the 5 cars it was compared to. 4th was the SQ5 which was marked down for inert steering. So it looks like all is not lost for the Evoque 2.2SD4 Prestige Lux in this company according to Autocar.

Audi, for all their engineering expertise seem incapable of producing a car with real driver involvement. So bland. I'm also surprised the X4 bombed but it's not the first time it has come in for serious criticism.

Not that Land Rover should draw any comfort from the result. The Porsche Macan is being shown time and again to be a better car than the Evoque, better made, more driver involvement and better performance.

I've been to both Halewood where the Evoque is made and Leipzig, where the Macan is made, is a breathtakingly modern production plant whereas you can somehow feel that the Ford Anglian and Escort were made in Halewood.

The lead time for the Macan is probably the longest of any mainstream car - said to be 18 months to 2 years - which rules it out for many but it's a huge success for Porsche.

The new LR engines cannot come a moment too soon but because LR really need to focus on emissions to get their fleet average down, the new-engined cars are likely to be more noticeable for their improved economy than their performance. The Evoque is handicapped by their inability to fit anything other than a straight four and the Porsche V6 petrol - I've seen them being made in Stuttgart - is a gem. The diesel does come from Audi, so it all the more to their credit that Porsche are able to improve it over the Audi version.

Having had an Evoque and now on my 2nd SQ5 (got the chance to swap the 1st one for a replacement at the one year old point with no additional investment) I'll attempt an unbiased view.

The Evoque handles better than an SQ in the twisty bits, the Audi's steering can be 'inert' but that depends what options the SQ5 has been spec'd with as these things are adjustable from the driver's seat through 'Drive Select' and or if spec'd, Dynamic Steering. Autocar tend not to be too hot on these vehicle option specificdetails as we will have all noted over the years.

As Mark_n has pointed out already LR need to get the engine capability thing sorted, they are a long way behind the game now both in performance and emissions terms. The SQ5 with a 3 litre V6 Bi-Turbo engine makes 308bhp/650Nm - 8 speed auto only (same box as the RR SVR), fuel economy is identical to the 190bhp Evoque SD4 manual I had before at 37mpg average. Gives an indication of how far the game has moved in the engine technology stakes.

The Porsche Macan doesn't get the bi-turbo diesel engine, yet anyway but the vehicle is based on the next generation platform that the 2016 Q5 will get, will be interesting to see how that evolves, hopefully getting some of Macan's desirable traits.

Living in the UK midlands I'd love to see LR get to grips with the quality issues (big employer here), even 18 months on from my Evoques departure (LR had it back, rejected) this forum is still littered with threads about rattles so no different than when I had mine.