Just did a 2 hour test drive -- My impressions on the Evoque's handling

I test drove a Dynamic for about 10 minutes last week, but I wanted to get some more seat time with it to really see how it drives. I found a dealer who agreed to give me a Dynamic for 2 hours to go drive on my own and just got back. It was a Dynamic model WITHOUT Adaptive Dynamics.

Since it was a solo test drive, I got to push the car to its limits (in cornering, speed, braking, fast lane changing, etc.) and I must say I was really impressed. It shockingly handles very similar to a BMW X5. I wasn't expecting it to be that good. It's very crisp in the corners with minimal body roll and steering response is excellent. It's probably 80% - 85% of the driving capability of the X5 in terms of cornering and handling.

Once thing that was very noticeable though was brake fad. After just one ABS stop from 50mph to 0, I noticed some fade. After a second ABS stop, I got about 50% fade on the pedal and decided to let the brakes cool. On an X5, you can ABS brake from 60MPH at least 4 or 5 times before you even start to get brake fade. I guess that's not such a big deal though as in real world driving since you aren't going to ABS brake on two occasions very close to each other.

All in all though, I was very impressed with the Evoque's driving dynamics. And I thought the blind spot monitoring feature was pretty nifty. Didn't think the mirrors are too big like some have been saying. Never got in the way for me. It's impossible for an entire car to hide behind the mirrors so it's a non-issue in my opinion. Rear window visibility is small, but I can live with it. The only real thing I didn't like and will have to try and find a solution to is the driving position of the seat which was making it difficult to find a comfortable place to rest my arms while driving. You basically only have two options: either rest your arms up high on the window sill of the door or way down low on the low door armrests. There's no center ground. Also, even with the seat as high up as it goes, the bottom of the steering wheel was at least 5 inches above my legs. I'm not used to that. Don't particularly like it, but could live with it. I like the steering wheel practically in my lap as it gives better control of the vehicle and faster reaction capability by the driver. On my Jeep and in my last BMW 3 series, I could configure it so the bottom of the steering wheel only sat about 1 inch above my legs. It's harder to get in and out of the car (if it's not an electronic steering wheel that moves up when you turn the car off), but it's worth it.

Something else I did like was the shifter dial. I figured since it's a dial, it might make it hard to get into drive or reverse or into park fast. It's the opposite. It's actually extremely quick because to get it into drive, you just spin it all the way to the right in one quick motion. To go from Park to Reverse, it's just one dial over to the right. Then Drive is all the way to the right. After only 5 minutes, I didn't even have to look at the dial anymore to change gears and it's very quick.

Really great car all around. It's not perfect, but it's close.

I could get either a BMW 335i or the Evoque and I'm leaning strongly towards the Evoque. The main consideration is that the Evoque is much more expensive than the 335i. The 335i is exactly the same MSRP as the Evoque, but the monthly payment is about 30% more on the Evoque. The 335i is a safe bet: super fast (4.7 seconds 0-60MPH), extremely hard to beat driving dynamics, perfect interior ergonomics (seating position, buttons/controls, distance to reach all of the controls), impossible to beat warranty (they cover EVERYTHING), a hugely better navigation system, but it's interior quality is really lacking and it has zero off-road or even going over curb capability. The Evoque looks better, has a tremendously better interior, and is loaded with tons more tech than the BMW. The Evoque is also more exciting to me because I owned a previous generation 3 series and know that model like the back of my hand -- not really anything new to discover. But the Evoque is brand new and almost like the hot girl next door that you don't know everything about so the mystery is sort of exciting.

Hope you make the right decision. It was the same for me, try something different. Im still dreaming about the hot girl next door!

For purely handling, to get that extra 20% on the X5, I strongly recommend you test drive a car with Adaptive Dynamics in DYNAMIC mode. This really makes a massive difference to the handling and cornering. Thanfully is standard on the Dynamic model in the UK

(27-06-2012 07:50am)nishandf Wrote:  For purely handling, to get that extra 20% on the X5, I strongly recommend you test drive a car with Adaptive Dynamics in DYNAMIC mode. This really makes a massive difference to the handling and cornering. Thanfully is standard on the Dynamic model in the UK

No reason for me to because I've already decided the Oxford leather interior is my first and foremost priority. And sadly, on US-spec cars, you can't get AD on Prestige models so you can't get the high-quality interior and AD together. If you could, I would, but no reason to torture myself by going out and test driving something I know I can't have.

You have the usual buyers dilemma along with heart ruling head. If it were an X5 versus an Evoque, back to back tests would probably help out. But if its a 335i then you are talking separate beasts.

Performance and handling are very different, but, and this is where our 330i and MB C320cdi lost out as they were RWD.

Perfect for probably 95% of the year, but useless in snow and ice especially if you live in hilly areas, we do.

Good luck with your choice.

Why not throw a TTS/TTRS into the mix - very rapid, great looks, quattro (all be it not quite as good as true 4x4), good residuals, superb interior. The RS will eat an M3 for breakfast - never mind the 335i!

All depends on what you are after.

I have the RS, and the mrs's the Evoque

(27-06-2012 01:52pm)Pricy147 Wrote:  Why not throw a TTS/TTRS into the mix - very rapid, great looks, quattro (all be it not quite as good as true 4x4), good residuals, superb interior. The RS will eat an M3 for breakfast - never mind the 335i!

All depends on what you are after.

I have the RS, and the mrs's the Evoque

Not a chance! An M3 will destroy an RS any day of the week. Bring it.

No way!
TTRS will annihilate the M3!!

RS s-tronic 0-60 4.3
RS plus 0-60 4.1

M3 0-60 4.8

(27-06-2012 01:52pm)Pricy147 Wrote:  Why not throw a TTS/TTRS,The RS will eat an M3 for breakfast

yeah right, right until you come to something commonly known as a corner! Wake up man and join the real world!

---

(27-06-2012 08:54pm)nishandf Wrote:  No way!
TTRS will annihilate the M3!!

RS s-tronic 0-60 4.3
RS plus 0-60 4.1

M3 0-60 4.8

No chance, a 1M will trounce an RS TT in the real world, never mind an M3 and anyway, it's still a girls TT!

(27-06-2012 08:54pm)nishandf Wrote:  No way!
TTRS will annihilate the M3!!

RS s-tronic 0-60 4.3
RS plus 0-60 4.1

M3 0-60 4.8

BMW vastly under advertises their 0-60 speed. The 335i shows 0-60 in 5.3, yet it does it in 4.7. The M3 shows 4.8, but does it in 4.1. It will wipe the floor/track with a TTRS.

---

(27-06-2012 10:48pm)THEMACS Wrote:   yeah right, right until you come to something commonly known as a corner! Wake up man and join the real world!

---

No chance, a 1M will trounce an RS TT in the real world, never mind an M3 and anyway, it's still a girls TT!

Indeed.

---

Speaking of M3, this offer on a 2009 M3 Sedan w/DCT with only 6,000 miles on it for $48,884 is mighty tempting!!! My monthly payment on this would be a few bucks less than on the Evoque.

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/...9571&Log=0