One of the virtues of having a long term vehicle is seeing it nearly every day over the course of a year. Consequently, you get a better sense of how the design of the vehicle will hold up over the long haul. The radically shaped 2015 Range Rover Evoque is one of those designs that could have a flavor of month that ages quickly or sufficiently advanced that it wears well. Happily, the latter is the case with the Evoque. Its low slung roof and clean shape still looks fresh and it’s noteworthy that other makers are following Range Rover’s lead by creating coupe-like 4-door crossovers with similarly shaped rooflines.
The difference in the Evoque’s approach to design, however, is that it hasn’t lost the off-road SUV look of the other models in the Range Rover lineup, giving it some recognizable heritage rather than being some sort of odd one-off. And by trading on that heritage, the 2015 Range Rover Evoque has, despite its sleek roofline, a muscular presence that appears firmly planted to the ground thanks to the large wheels and tires and the aggressive lower body cladding.
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The price of high style
Of course, the rakish looks exact a price in making access to the rear seat a bit challenging, although the fact that there are rear doors make this a lot easier than it would be on the two-door version. While the exterior is a nice blend of a coupe-like roofline atop a serious off-roader, the interior is all luxury car. Like the exterior, the lines are clean and uncluttered with a center console that gently sweeps up into the dash beneath the touchscreen. The console itself contains redundant controls for the climate system and the gear selector is a nifty rotary knob that rises up when the vehicle is started.
Part of Range Rover’s pedigree is handcraftsmanship and it’s evident in the sewed leather dash coverings and supportive bucket seats. While an English pedigree sometimes implies a certain traditional stuffiness, the 2015 Range Rover Evoque from a design perspective, is fresh, innovative and just plain fun. Just perfect for a vehicle designed more for cityscapes than for wide open spaces.
See past reports on our Long-Term 2014 Range Rover Evoque…
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