And all because the boat ran aground. Yup, the Hoegh Osaka, a massive car-carrying roll-on-roll-off ship stuck its 51,000 displaced tonnes onto a sandbank off the south coast of England and apparently 1.7 tonnes or so of that was the Land Rover Discovery Sport that I was supposed to be testing this week. Whoops.
Ah well, the Land Rover people very kindly threw me into a Range Rover Evoque for the week. Therefore, in lieu of a full road test of the Evoque, which we did when the car was updated last year, here are a few random thoughts from spending an unexpected week in Landie's trendiest.
Colour is everything and I'm not sure lipstick red is entirely me. It suits the still-fresh-looking lines of the Evoque just fine, but I kept spotting one in traffic that was dark grey with a contrast black roof and felt jealous.
On the inside, black is a very good look for the Evoque - this is the first time I'd driven one that didn't have beige leather on the inside and it looks rather tastier in a darker tone. Love, love, love those front seats too - some of the comfiest things I've ever squished my buttocks against. Ahem.
Were we too hasty condemning Jaguar Land Rover's infotainment system? It's being replaced this year with the new InControl setup, but actually, in this Evoque it was... ok, it did all I needed and I never really thought twice about it.
The new ZF nine-speed automatic gearbox feels better now than when we tested it last year, much smoother in its changes and less prone to hunting around for gears at low-to-middling speeds. It's had a number of software updates since then, so probably this is the reason for the improvement. Needs nicer shift-paddles than the cheap plastic ones lurking behind the steering wheel though.
Four-wheel drive is a must. Yes, it pushes the CO2 emissions up a good bit but come on, this is still a Land Rover and given that I was driving it when all about was white, snowy and frosty (Let It Go etc. etc.) I would have looked pretty daft sitting at the bottom of my driveway with the front wheels spinning...
The 2.2-litre TD4 engine is still brilliant - 150hp and 400Nm of torque mean you can crack along nicely, but it's also refined and smooth. Still too thirsty though, as my 8.0 litres per 100km average proves. The new Ingenium engines coming this year should help a bit in that regard. The ride quality is also still too stiff. I suspect the Discovery Sport will be by far comfier and I'll get to find out, Shipping Forecast allowing, in a couple of weeks...
Key tech specs:
- Pricing: €45,845 for this one
- Engine options: 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel, 150hp in this one, 190hp if you pay extra
- Emissions from: 149g/km with the auto box and four-wheel drive
Further reading:
Full Range Rover Evoque review (on Irish roads)
Land Rover Discovery Sport review (first drive, in Iceland)