Evoque at Company Car in Action 2012 / Millbrook Proving Ground

So this week, we took our annual trip to Millbrook Proving Ground to test drive some of the most popular Company Cars that are due to appear on the market or ones that the manufacturers are promoting.

Its good for the team to jump into as many of the cars as possible so we can then sell the experience to customer. DOwnside to us is that our company promotes more of the BMW, Merc's and VW's that don't attend anymore.

Yet Jaguar and Land Rover had a stand!

First thing I had to do, having an Evoque on order is get a test drive on the Si4 and the SD4. I really couldn't decide which one to go for when ordering my RRE back in May, and the 10 minutes the dealerships give you isn't enough.

I took the Si4 out first, this was the Dynamic (of course) with the Dynamic Plus Pack. The Land Rover rep told us how to change the modes, and set the Adaptive Dynamics into Dynamic and the Gearbox into sport, she then blipped the Paddle Shift so that it went into Manual.

Got a few pictures that I will post to my website when I've got a second.
Heading out onto the Alpine Circuit and I managed to get my toe down before the dip before assending up the hill for the first hill. The car was faultless, with me able to throw the car into corners with very little body roll.

In the first tight hairpin, I like to throw the cars into the corner and release the accelerator so that you get a sense of how the car would handle. The car didn't move and stuck to the road before my accelerated decent down the hill. The car was great still on the steeper other 2 hairpins.

At the end, I was directed onto the high speed bowl. I managed to get the RRE Si4 up to 134mph in the fourth lane, I'm not sure if it is automatically limited but it would not let me go any quicker despite where my foot was placed. The car felt safe and steady and wind noise was high, but was better than some other cars I had driven that day.

The second car was the RRE SD4 Prestige Auto wit Lux Pack, no adaptive dynamics but the LR rep put the car into S mode again for me.

Again the first hill was effortless, with the Diesel engine feeling extremely torquey! It actually felt like it pulled better than the Si4, yet at the higher speeds you knew that the petrol would leave it behind. The approach to the third hairpin is extremely steep, and the pull of the diesel engine got us to the tp very quickly. Throwing it round the corner, you could tell the suspension wasn't as stiff as the Dynamic but still no where near as bad as some of the competitors.

High Speed Bowl with the SD4 was great, but could only get the RRE to 124mph. Again Wind noise was the same as the Si4 and the engine much louder.

When back at the LR stand, I had a play with all of the gadgets including the TV System, Camersa dna the Ambient Lighting.

I am glad I have picked the SD4 over the Si4, not to fussed about the fuel economy its the pull that it gives you when you first accelerate. Its great. I have already got my TDI Tuning kit ready for a month after I receive it and this should help with the pickup, as it does on my partners Golf.

All in all a good day! Got to drive some other quirkly cars including the Renault Twizy, Toyota GT86, Skoda Citigo and some of the newer diesel hybrids.

Good write up, thanks for sharing. I have the SD4 and still very happy with my choice.

Not sure I would have the nerve to lift off on a tight bend if you are taking the corner at speed.........looks like you lived to write about it though.

It's good that you could do a back to back comparison between the petrol and diesel Evoques.

On our first test drive we managed to go out in 3 models. My first impression was the same as you and that the pull the diesel gives you 'feels' more powerful than the petrol.

I know on paper that this is not the case, but it is what the driver feels the car is doing that is important to the driving experience. Also it did not appear to take long before the car was exceeding the speed limit, again the real world experience as opposed to paper stats. The other point about the Si4 was that it seemed noisier in the cabin and the car certainly revved much harder, that didn't appeal to us, we wanted the more relaxed driving style. Others will and do love the eager petrol drive.

Hope it's not too long before you get your Evoque.

Good write up , i have also done a day At milbrook 10 years ago with driven or fifth gear can't remember which one where all the manufacturers brought their cars for the public to test drive . It was a cracking event , its nice to get a back to back comparison.

The golf 150 diesels went on the bowl , so i ordered one.

They should hold more of these events as they are great.

Thanks for an excellent write up. I have just taken delivery of my prestige lux SD4 this week, and am pleased to hear that I appear to have made a decent choice. Based on just a few days of ownership, I certainly think so.