Pure eD4 (with pics). My thoughts after a week...

So the Evoque was delivered last Thursday. Thought it might never happen. After ordering June ’11 and being told May ’12 we were surprised to be called in March saying that they’d like to deliver the car on 2 April. 3 weeks and a lot of frustration regarding the transfer of my wife’s cherished plate meant that we got it the day before a long weekend away. Packed up on Friday with luggage for a family of 4 including travel cot/pushchair and various other bits (wellies/beer/wine etc) it was a good way to put it through its paces.

Background to previous cars. I have a MKI Audi TT V6 (love the shape still) and my wife’s car (which the Evoque replaces) was an A5 sport 2.0TFSI (180). Having a 4 and 2 year old, one of coupes had to go in favour of back doors so we ordered a Fuji white Pure eD4 the only options being the panoramic, fogs, and 19” style 5 diamond turned wheels. I wanted privacy glass but my wife vetoed in the end. Any other option meant saw the monthly payment (it’s a work scheme car) become silly…

First impressions

I like:
• The general fit and finish of the car. I have some niggles but then I also did in our similarly priced (£30k ish) A5 which has some cheaper feeling plastics.
• Leather on the seats feels nice and soft – somewhere between the standard A5 leather and the soft ‘nappa’ in my TT.
• The drive. Now it only sits on ‘standard’ springs but it corners very flat and feels similar to the A5 in terms of roll. The ride on the 19s is pretty good. Such a huge rolling circumference is going to help, 55 profile rubber on the 19” wheels is massive so it soaks up bumps quite nicely. Still firm enough though to feel ‘sporty’.
• I presume the power steering is electric. If so it feels good if a little light. I’m not after ‘feel’ in a car of this size so think LR have done a decent job with it. I had a new A4 courtesy car recently which weighted up when speed increased which felt horrible whereas the Evoques feels convincing. Must admit I’ve not flung it through too many corners yet…
• The drive of the eD4. We’d not driven a single Evoque before taking delivery (high rish I know!) and I was concerned that the 150bhp was not going to be enough. It’s not rapid like previous cars we’ve owned but where it counts; i.e. overtaking and 40-70 acceleration it feels quick enough – just. I am going to look into a remap as whilst I’ve not driven an SD4 I’ve had the pleasure of having one comfortably accelerate past me which I want to be able to have. 150 to 190 being the best part of a 30% increase in power certainly appeals at the right price.
• Loving the panoramic roof. The difference in light is incredible. We specced it for the kids mainly as it starts quite far back and they love it. really is a lot darker with the blind drawn.

Things I’m not convinced about:
• Some plastics, mainly the glovebox feel terribly cheap. My 8 year old TT has a glovebox lovingly made out of the same high quality plastics as the rest of the dash. Likewise, seat back plastics - my daughter has already scuffed them a bit after having gravel on her shoes. This is to be expected with young kids although bit annoying that they couldn’t put something more durable on the seat backs. Thing is this is a £30k Evoque and not a £50k RRS or £70k FFRR so I’m guessing such things are perhaps higher quality in the more expensive RR products (I’ve driven or been in neither!).
• Boot trim that runs the whole width across the rear (above numberplate) feels a little flimsy. Sure it won’t fall off just feels a little plasticky each time I open the boot.
• Think I was expecting more from the Meridian system. It’s very clear but I’m struggling to get much bass out of it. certainly not as punchy as the Audi Bose/Concert systems we had although clarity is very good. Ipod connection is temperamental though. In less than a week it has frozen twice which is annoying.

Only other bug bear was the fact that after I washed the car for the first time (two bucket method lambswool mitt etc) the rear quarter gloss black trim round the windows look marred. The passenger side particularly bad. I did however by hand polish then with G techniq P1 which seemed to make a big improvement. Hoping to not have to do this every time I wash the car but I will monitor closely.

Apart from that we’re very pleased. It still turns heads despite there being more on the roads. MPG has also been reasonable. Hovering around the 40mpg for the first 800 miles which I thought was OK for running in. Hope to be closer to 50mpg once we’ve put a few miles on the clock though.

I’ll post some pics up of it later…

Nice review, very suprised at the lack of bass from the meridian. I have the audi system & i thought the meridian sounded as good if not better

I am still waiting for my car,

Sounds like you are enjoying the new arrival.
Try increasing the sub if you are feeling a little low on bass.
It makes a massive difference.
I have had 5 series for the last 5-6 years and the Meridian system blows the BMW music system away.
My TD4 now has 3400 miles on it and theist tank did 41.5mpg so you should see a marked improvement with the 2WD eD4 in a few miles

Thanks for the review, especially as I'm just out of an A5 Cabrio (which has been virtually faultless for 45,000 miles) and will be much missed aside from not being terribly practical. This will be my first LR vehicle and first UK built vehicle since 1990 I just hope I've made the right decision.

The B&O music in the Audi has been excellent (better than the Bose in the previous A4 Cabs) if the Meridian is as good I'll be happy....roll on two weeks and I guess I will know for sure...

My brother's A5 Cabrio has the B&O audio, he reckons its not a patch on the 850w Meridian system i have in the Evoque. He thinks the Meridian is a much more "natural" sound and clearer/ sharper, he is particularly impressed by the reproduction on the DAB radio and the surround sound effect when playing movies. I wouldn't know, I only listen to radio 4 and radio 3 or the tunes in my iPhone, I wouldn't know a surround sound if it came and bit me!

Many thanks for the detailled report. I'm still waiting for my eD4. Glad to read that performance is okay. I was a bit worried as well about the 150 hp engine.

Some pics I took over the weekend...

   
   
   
   

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(26-04-2012 07:14pm)Bodlyfunctions Wrote:  Sounds like you are enjoying the new arrival.
Try increasing the sub if you are feeling a little low on bass.
It makes a massive difference.
I have had 5 series for the last 5-6 years and the Meridian system blows the BMW music system away.
My TD4 now has 3400 miles on it and theist tank did 41.5mpg so you should see a marked improvement with the 2WD eD4 in a few miles

I've now just put the trip on 'auto' and on the journey back tonight, 15 miles some motorway and some inner Bham rush hour traffic I saw an average of 48mpg which is good. 850 miles on the clock already.

Question on the sub - am i right in thinking there is a seperate sub somewhere in the car? Turning the bass up presumably just asks each of the ten visible speakers to kick out a bit more bass, whereas turning sub up must just be asking the sub to kick out a bit more bass? Is the bit in the dash a designated sub?

Think I might be giving the Meridian system a hard time. It is very very clear indeed and doesn't distort. The DAB is a nice touch. SO much clearer than FM. Will crank it up a bit higher tomorrow to give it a full workout. My home audio I was told got better with use (they recommended leaving my amp on 24 hours continuously to 'bed in') so maybe it's similar for a car system...

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(26-04-2012 07:30pm)Straydox Wrote:  Thanks for the review, especially as I'm just out of an A5 Cabrio (which has been virtually faultless for 45,000 miles) and will be much missed aside from not being terribly practical. This will be my first LR vehicle and first UK built vehicle since 1990 I just hope I've made the right decision.

The B&O music in the Audi has been excellent (better than the Bose in the previous A4 Cabs) if the Meridian is as good I'll be happy....roll on two weeks and I guess I will know for sure...

You'll be pleased with the interior coming from an A5 in my opinion. Touch screen in the Evoque is nicer and seems quicker to get to where you want (even if there is a bit of a pause between button press and action). Facia generally has less buttons but more logical layout. The A5 a/c system I thought was overly fussy plus some of the plastics in and around the centre console and where your knees touch I thought could have been better.

Don't know what engine you have but our 2.0TFSI was an oil junkie. Literally must have put 15 litres of oil in over the 30k miles we did. Ridiculous!

Got the ed4 done nearly 4k miles in 4 weeks, car is loosening up and feels much more punchy than first two weeks, economy is also improving and seems to Hoover around 42ish on normal drives, slower drives at circa 50/60mph gets nearly 50mpg

Agree on all your points regards glove box and some plastics but in general quality is really good. The RRS and FFRR have full leather on the back of seats and leather map holders not the scratchy plastic which is also the same stuff as on merc and bmw's so may not be money saving but design feature for seat construction.

Leave car few weeks before going for a remap, I would say there is little difference now in mine between a sd4 which I had for a week in October.

That looks great Hooky, congratulations!

MrHooky, I have the same concerns/ issues relating to the gloss black trim. I find that I am polishing it every second wash. Having said that, all that I am doing is putting a filling in the swil marks I know, but it does make I look better