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+--- Thread: Handling Found Wanting (/Thread-Handling-Found-Wanting)
Handling Found Wanting - mark_n - 11-03-2012 10:05am
I realise that many here are not interested in how the car handles and instead are more concerned with how the car looks inside and out and with fiddling endlessly with the Sat Nav and Bluetooth connectivity while being lulled into a pleasant soporific state of mind by the driving experience. Bit like smoking pot, I think.
Me, I look for a more sporting experience and I had hoped the combination of the higher powered and lighter petrol engine, lighter 3 door dynamic coupe (albeit with the heavy high-up glass roof to mess things up) and the adaptive damping would make for a reasonably sporting drive.
A journey home of 50 miles on the motorway and a favourite B road north of Oxford to Chipping Norton have left me disappointed.
It turns out the engine power is easily enough for the chassis to handle - there's enough grunt to get the car up to speed and to execute safe overtakes, though there's a flurry of activity in the gearbox and frantic noise from the engine while you do it. The higher torque of the diesel might make for a more relaxed flexible drive but you ultimately run out of power.
The real issue is that, for a car labelled "Dynamic", the suspension is not good enough. First, at motorway cruising speeds (and I'll leave you to think where those might be in relation to the speed limit), the car has a tendency to float after responding to undulations in the road, it's as if the suspension is fast to react and slow to settle and, for the first time in a long time, made me feel nauseous. Then, when you press on on a winding country road, the alarming body roll inevitably causes you to back off even if things are fine on the ground.
That favourite road has a tight 200m S-bend with clear visibility and significant unsettling undulations and you can take up the whole road if you want to. My little Subaru and 911 are absolutely fine at speeds which have passengers reaching for the door handles. The Evoque last night was all over the place at 50 mph, rolling from side to side even though I was able to place the car exactly where I wanted to though the roll does unsettle the car. Of course, it's not a Subaru Impreza, still less is it a 911 turbo but it does have the magic dampers and I do not think LR have been brave enough in the Dynamic to make the suspension match the name.
Even with the Dynamic ADS profile, the suspension is too soft and squidgy (technical term) and the roll resistance poor. It's barely different in truth from the normal setting and setting the instrument lights on fire to show a beast has been unleashed is a little wide of the mark.
I'd like to see a much more sporting profile - a harder ride, but faster responding suspension with the dampers being stiffened on the outside of a corner to improve roll resistance. A more neutral handling Evoque would be a better drive. As it is, the car is great up to, say, 70% of the handling limit. Press on to explore those limits and it all becomes a bit ragged.
Roll on the Evoque Sport. If Porsche can do with it with the Cayenne and will do it again with the Macan, so can LR with the Evoque.
RE: Handling Found Wanting - griff - 11-03-2012 10:18am
Well I think for a 4x4 the handling is spectacular as one nervous passenger who was with me on Thursday will attest. In Dynamic setting and sports selected it went round corners in a way I would not believe.
Sure it does not handle like my BMW 335i convertible used to but that is a 300+bhp sports car.
For a car that can whisk down windy roads and then go straight up a muddy track I think the car is unbeatable.
Handling Found Wanting - allyb123 - 11-03-2012 11:33am
Well, this is one of the more disappointing posts I've read on here. Owning a Cayman S and a Wrangler at current, was sort of hoping for the perfect blend of both!! :-/
We'll see how it behaves on Australian roads before I'm too critical.
RE: Handling Found Wanting - J77 - 11-03-2012 11:37am
(11-03-2012 10:18am)griff Wrote: Well I think for a 4x4 the handling is spectacular as one nervous passenger who was with me on Thursday will attest. In Dynamic setting and sports selected it went round corners in a way I would not believe.
Sure it does not handle like my BMW 335i convertible used to but that is a 300+bhp sports car.
For a car that can whisk down windy roads and then go straight up a muddy track I think the car is unbeatable.
+1. coming down from larger LRs the evoque handles well. It will never handle like a sports car and was never intended to be one.
RE: Handling Found Wanting - defender_uk - 11-03-2012 11:49am
(11-03-2012 10:18am)griff Wrote: Well I think for a 4x4 the handling is spectacular as one nervous passenger who was with me on Thursday will attest. In Dynamic setting and sports selected it went round corners in a way I would not believe.
Sure it does not handle like my BMW 335i convertible used to but that is a 300+bhp sports car.
For a car that can whisk down windy roads and then go straight up a muddy track I think the car is unbeatable.
+2 bang on Griff....though I can't confirm the BMW bit.
The car handles exceptionally well, and I have never yet had to 'back off'...and yes, I do push it hard...
RE: Handling Found Wanting - Coolbanana - 11-03-2012 11:53am
The Evoque is not going to match a Porsche or a BMW M-car. What it does do is give a good account for itself relatively-speaking on all road surfaces and conditions and beats the Porsche's and BMW M-car's off-road.
My Z4M would easily beat my Evoque on the road but couldn't go off-road. My Evoque gives a good account of itself against my wife's Mini Cooper S and can go off-road where most SUV's struggle.
It is a compromise for those who want a vehicle that can be used reasonably enthusiastically on road and go off road equally proficiently and does so very well in my opinion. It isn't gonna keep up with a Cayman S on road nor is it gonna go where a Defender goes off road but does a bit of both sufficiently well to keep me happy.
RE: Handling Found Wanting - defender_uk - 11-03-2012 11:57am
(11-03-2012 10:05am)mark_n Wrote: I realise that many here are not interested in how the car handles and instead are more concerned with how the car looks inside and out and with fiddling endlessly with the Sat Nav and Bluetooth connectivity while being lulled into a pleasant soporific state of mind by the driving experience. Bit like smoking pot, I think.
...and actually Mark, I thoroughly object to that first sentence. Arrogant, rude and down-right patronising.
RE: Handling Found Wanting - mark_n - 11-03-2012 12:42pm
For most people here, the handling is good enough. For me, as an enthusiastic driver and an engineer, it's not.
RE: Handling Found Wanting - griff - 11-03-2012 12:46pm
Wrong car then Mark. I think the old adage you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear springs to mind. I still think its the best handling small real 4x4 by far.
Cheers
RE: Handling Found Wanting - BTS18 - 11-03-2012 12:49pm
I'm with Coolbanana on this one. It was an unfair comparison for a winding country road, 911 v Evoque, unless of course you were going to compare them on their off road capabilities as well!!!