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2017 Range Rover Evoque Convertible Revealed with $50,475 Price

After three long years of waiting, the SUV that every wealthy fan of the Range Rover brand has been waiting for is finally here. It's the Range Rover Evoque Convertible, a rag-top model that's at home in the jungle and Beverly Hills.
Range Rover Evoque Convertible 37 photos
Photo: Land Rover
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The first thing you need to know about it is that, even though it's a chopped 4x4, the Evoque cabrio doesn't look like a safari truck. Instead, it's even more futuristic and posh than the regular model thanks to a few discrete cosmetic tweaks. Roof up or down, it's an eye catcher. We're not so sure about the color combination, though. Painted orange with black accents, this jack-o'-lantern is late for Halloween.

Besides the lack of a metal roof, the only major change is that there's a spoiler over the trunk. It's there to add downforce over the rear axle at high speeds. We wouldn't want to repeat those deadly crash tendencies of the first Audi TT Roadsters, now would we?

The trunk opening has gone all fancy because of the chopped body. It looks like an upside-down oven door. Models like the DS3 and MINI Convertible have a restrictive opening, but this seems to be okay. The cargo area has gone down from 420 liters to just 251, which is about the same as on a Hyundai i10.

There's no getting around the fact that chopping the roof has made it heavy. Logically speaking, that sentence sounds counter-intuitive, but the basic idea is that all the strength of the roof is gone, and extra bracing needs to be added to the underbody and windshield. As a result, the Evoque Convertible is 270 kg or 595 pounds heavier than the hardtop 3-door model.

As standard, the model weighs 1,936 kg (4,268 lbs), which is 1 kilo more than an Audi RS6 Avant. But while the German super-wagon uses a 4-liter V8, this British toy needs to make due with a couple of four-cylinder engines. The American market will get a 2.0-liter turbo that delivers 240 PS and 251 lb-ft (340 Nm) of torque through a standard 9-speed automatic. With a 0 to 60 time of 7.8 seconds and a top speed of 112 mph (180 km/h), it's not what we'd call fast.

Over in Europe, diesel power comes from Land Rover’s 2.0-liter Ingenium engines that provide only 180 horsepower. They claim it returns 55mpg UK (5.1 l/100km), but given the weight of the vehicle, we don't believe that's achievable. The acceleration performance drops from 9.0 seconds (0 to 62 mpg for the hardtop) to 10.3 seconds

It's not particularly mind-blowing from the point of view of a convertible. The fabric roof stows away in 18 seconds and can be raised in 21 seconds, at speeds of up to 30mph (48 km/h). Those are acceptable numbers, but not really astounding.

The Range Rover Evoque Convertible will go on sale in mid-2016, costing $50,475 in the United States, excluding the $995 destination and handling fees. Back home in Britain, this fashion star from the jungle will start at £47,500 OTR for the TD4 HSE Dynamic, £5,200 more than the equivalent hard-top.

So to conclude, the Evoque Convertible weighs as much as an Audi RS6 and only slightly less than a Q7. The price is similar to a Chevy Corvette, yet it only comes with a 4-cylinder engine. Land Rover engineers worked hard to make a true off-roader, yet nobody is going to use it for something more severe than curb mounting.

For this kind of money, you could buy a Subaru Forester and a Mazda MX-5 Miata. But there's no getting around the fact that, if you want a roofless crossover SUV, this is your only choice.

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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