Evoque No. 2

Last weekend, I picked up my 2nd Evoque - The old timers on the site may recall my first one (Took delivery in November 2011). It was quite a sudden decision, old car needed new tyres (50,000km's on the clock) and having seen the price of new tyres here in SA, I dipped my toe into the market and got a great part ex (relative to the price for other used Evoque's... that said it was slightly over 20% depreciation in 18 months, but to be fair I did do quite a lot of miles). On the other side, I also got the new car at a slight discount (just under 5%). Financially it seemed to make sense so I switched

The new one's pretty much as opposite as you can get from the old one, SD4 Dynamic 5 door, Orkney Grey with Black Contrast Pano roof, Pursuit interior and 20" Shadow Chrome wheels. So Diesel vs Petrol, 5 Door vs Coupe, Dynamic vs Prestige... The only bits that are the same is the OG colour and and the wheels. (Standard kit on SA spec - i.e. both cars had it - Keyless entry, Privacy glass, Solar Attenuating Windscreen, Power Fold mirrors, Powered Tailgate, Navigation etc.)

First impressions of the new one

• The SD4 is MUCH more economical - I used to be able to get 9.5l/100km (29.7mpg) on the Si4 (and that was driving with feather toes). On the SD4, first tank I managed 7.5l/100km (37.6mpg) with a similar driving style. Considering that the SD4 still needs some running in, I think it should come down some more.
• Whilst not quite as nippy as the Si4, the SD4 comes quite close - in normal everyday driving I really notice no difference, if anything it's more comfortable in traffic (the Si4 had a much more pronounced turbo lag than the SD4)
• The Prestige had a more comfortable seat, the height adjustment in the Prestige makes a massive difference - On my very first trip in the new one (about 120km drive to my country place) about an hour in I started wriggling around to try and relieve the soreness in my right leg due to lack of support. Perhaps if you are short it won't matter, but as a tall chap, I eventually had to settle on putting the seat as far back as possible to get my leg in a position where the seat supported it
• AD - the old one had it, the new one doesn't (bought a stock car so had to make do with the options included). To be honest, if i ordered the 2nd car to my spec i would've ticked that box but am actually quite glad now I got a car without (i.e. didn't spend extra money) as I really do not feel the difference (apart from the car with AD being perhaps a bit more jittery)
• 825W vs 380W Meridian - likewise, old car had 825W, new one only 380W and unless you have TV/need surround sound, it makes very little difference. For normal music I may just prefer the 380W. I do have to crank it up a lot higher than I did the 825W system to get a similar volume from it but very nice.
• Heated seats, old one didn't have (wasn't available as an option in our market at the time) new one does and they are a must have.
• Adaptive headlights with cornering lights - old one didn't have (wasn't available as an option in our market at the time) new one does and whilst probably not a must have, definitely a nice to have and not just for country lanes. Quite useful when you pull out of a parking lot etc. at night to avoid going over kerbs etc.
  

All in all pretty happy with the new one - likely not the car i would've gotten if i ordered to spec but a few lessons learnt in that process. Some of the bits I would've ordered (AD and upgraded Meridian) I actually don't miss and some bits I wouldn't (Cornering lights) I quite enjoy.

Photo's in a while.

Nice work mate...
Interesting read. Have the Si4 and thinking if Diesel next time. The tyre thing is interesting, mentioned to my wife about timing trade with tyres. Would save $$$$.
Looking forward to the photos.

Interesting comparisons Berlin, Makes me happy with my choices, I don't find the AD Jittery but rarely use Dynamic mode now which can be a bit jittery on bumpy roads (like a Mini Cooper S is too), I just use normal as it's so comfortable. Also you can find a comfortable position on standard Dynamic seats and get that support just takes a bit more faffing, I personally love my Dynamic seats over the Oxford Leather of Prestige.

You never mentioned anything about the 5dr over Coupe comparison...

PhilSkill, good point about the AD in standard vs Dynamic, it is fine in normal position but also agree that once the novelty wore off, i rarely engaged Dynamic mode. I think it's just that the non AD suspension is pretty good as is (something I'd never have discovered if I didn't buy a car already in stock and something I did fret about before getting the car) So suppose a little bit of relief about the whole non-AD situation (or perhaps I'm just getting old and no longer corner/drive fast enough to notice the difference)

The 5 door thing caused real anguish... first non two door car I've owned since my student days (and that's not far from two decades ago). Had all these pangs of "too sensible" and "very grown up to have 5 doors". That said, as much as I love the Coupe and still thinks it's so much better looking it is very practical having those two extra openings on the side of the car. Who would've thought Quite amazed at the new options for putting stuff into the car they represent. To be honest though in the 18 months I had the Coupe, I maybe had someone in the back seat 3 times in all so really not a big deal.

Some other observations

- Rear view camera is MUCH faster, old car without fail only showed picture when I fully backed out of garage and was pulling away in Drive. New one is maybe a second, if that long, after switching to Reverse before picture is up. This was quite annoying about old car and happy to report it is fixed. Also the rear view camera can remain active whilst driving (in case the still as huge side mirrors do not provide enough of a rear view) - it has to be switched on though before commencing on the journey.

- Navigation system, whilst still clunky, is different. Some more options regarding POI etc. Also possible to actually program destination etc while slowly moving (old car required completely stationary vehicle). The graphics also appear different... can't put my finger on what exactly it is but appear to be sharper/more detailed?

- iPhone bluetooth vs cable issue now much clearer, the moment the phone is plugged into one of the USB ports (either one) the screen has a message informing one that bluetooth streaming is disabled.

Interesting observations. The camera, Sat Nav and iPhone connection upgrades are probably software related so any Evoque could probably upgrade to the same.