Collected yesterday some comments and questions!

Your bonnet will dent very easily if you are a bit heavy at pushing it home - it is Aluminium.............. the tailgate IIRC is made from recycled Fairy Liquid bottles, ie it is plastic. There is nothing wrong with the plastic bits, LR has been at the forefront of using recycled/recyclable stuff in its cars for years, they just don't shout about it too loudly. Defender's body panels have always been Aluminium, all of them.

(10-09-2012 10:49am)XFullFatTim Wrote:  Your bonnet will dent very easily if you are a bit heavy at pushing it home - it is Aluminium.............. the tailgate IIRC is made from recycled Fairy Liquid bottles, ie it is plastic. There is nothing wrong with the plastic bits, LR has been at the forefront of using recycled/recyclable stuff in its cars for years, they just don't shout about it too loudly. Defender's body panels have always been Aluminium, all of them.

Thanks Tim for the info, I knew various parts were aluminium and composite and I have had cars built like this before in particular a 645 coupe (aluminium wings, bonnet and composite boot lid) however they have always been painted i.e not naked coloured plastic.

On the bonnet is this the correct way to shut it i.e drop onto catch and then push down to latch or is there another (safer) way?

I just drop it then try to lift it up onto the safety catch. Several members have found that unless you press it very gently it will end up with 2 hand sized dents in it!

Front wings and the panels under the rear light clusters are also plastic. Come to think of it the only metal panels are the bonnet, doors and rear quarter, and the roof which is ofcourse mostly glass!

I always use the 'drop' method as well. The few times I tried just pushing it, I thought it was closed correctly, but kept getting console warnings that it was open.

(10-09-2012 11:41am)FujiSan Wrote:  I always use the 'drop' method as well. The few times I tried just pushing it, I thought it was closed correctly, but kept getting console warnings that it was open.

+1 for drop method

(09-09-2012 11:32am)stiggy Wrote:  Finally after a 6 month wait collected the Evoque yesterday. Thanks to everybody on here for helping me fill the gap with some interesting banter and information!
Firstly comments :
After driving over a broad mix of roads yesterday to all the doubters I can now state with confidence that this is a proper Range Rover and worthy of the badge, in fact in one key area IMO it betters Even the FFRR and RRS and that is the ride/handling combo. I've owned and driven X5 and X6, 3, 5, 6 and 7 series BMW's a broad range of Audi's including the Q's, A6 and A8 and just traded a V8 S5 for the Evoque. None of these cars offered such a well judged compromise between waft and cornering ability it really is gobsmacking!
I also had some trepidation switching from a big V8 to a piddley diesel and again have to say I am pleasantly surprised since the performance is more than adequate and at times it's outright quick.
Negatives:
The rear pillars on my painted roof seem to be plastic not metal and seem to scratch very easily.
The alloys are going to be a real pain to clean and expensive to repair but they do look stunning with OG paint.
The satnav is painfully unresponsive when inputting destination but that's After the Audi the best going IMO.
That's it!
One question (and I am sure this has been answered before) when the terrain response is left in normal and dynamic mode switched off am I still getting the benefit of the magneride flattening out the bumps or does the suspension revert to a passive system?
Final note, I've seen Stratstones come in for a lot of stick on here but I have to say the handover and condition of the car was faultless and professional and all my questions were answered with confidence and I had lots as I am a bit of a geek!

Welcome and congrats on your purchase. As you are from Bolton, like me, try the following bit of road.
Go through Edgworth on the Crowthorne road past the Toby Inn all the way over the moors to the Grey Mare and back. I reckon my Evoque actually feels better planted than my previous Audi A5

+3 for the drop method...

(09-09-2012 07:05pm)XFullFatTim Wrote:  No but you could wrap them

Wrap them?? More info please...thanks!

(10-09-2012 12:55pm)speary Wrote:  Welcome and congrats on your purchase. As you are from Bolton, like me, try the following bit of road.
Go through Edgworth on the Crowthorne road past the Toby Inn all the way over the moors to the Grey Mare and back. I reckon my Evoque actually feels better planted than my previous Audi A5

Hi Speary
Thanks and I hope you are enjoying your babyRR as much as I am so far.
I live on that side of Bolton so know the road you mention quite well and have driven it many times in my S5 (weighed in for the Evoque). Unfortunately I doubt the Evoque will perform as well in terms of handling but it sure will be much more comfortable as the ride was truly awful on the Audi (the only reason I traded).
Thanks to all for your advice.
One final point, just a bit of advice of my own to all new buyers on the Meridian audio, save your cash if you are looking at the upgraded version as the standard fit is really very good (I have listened to both extensively). Just make sure you listen to uncompressed audio if you can like a CD or good quality digital files as the difference is stunning!

Also a question does anybody know where I can get aftermarket front seat covers and rubber mats, LR want over £350 for their products and despite having spent £42K with the dealer he has offered me a measly £30 discount on them!