Photo: Land Rover
We think that, while it's very interesting, the Range Rover lineup of luxury SUVs plays a very dangerous straddling game over the segments they should actually target. The full-size Range Rover is a little too big for the average European road and has little chance of playing sports with its more compact German rivals. On the other hand, the baby Range, the Evoque, is too small for its own good, more like a Ford Kuga covered in luxury leather than a rival for the Porsche Macan or the Audi Q5.
We would, however, forgive the Evoque if Land Rover decided to offer something like what we see in these renderings, a SVR model. A little brother for the RR Sport SVR would surely be a huge hit, though it would come with a number of hurdles from an engineering standpoint.
You see, the Evoque is based on a new platform called LR-MS. It's FWD-based and shares a few components with the Freelander 2. However, it was never designed to take a larger six-cylinder engine, which all the SVR's rivals have. In 2013, the company did launch the Autobiography Dynamic hot Evoque, powered by a 285 PS 2-liter turbo, but this would be no match for the BMW X4 xDrive35i or the Porsche Macan S.
When Land Rover designed the Evoque, the global economy was still gripped by hardship and engineers probably thought cost-conscious customers would prefer 2-liter turbos over V6 engines. However, things have changed since then and larger engines are back on the agenda. Powered exclusively by V6 turbo engines, the all-new Macan SUV from Porsche is sold out for a whole year right now.
The Autobiography Dynamic model lacks the design punch or the catchy name people looking for a sports offroaders want. But, the rendered SVR has the same sort "grrr!" factor as Audi's RS Q3, its chin spoilers and multitude of exhaust pipes exuding aggression.
So how about it Land Rover, will the supercharged V6 fit inside an Evoque?
Rendering by Theophilus Chin
You see, the Evoque is based on a new platform called LR-MS. It's FWD-based and shares a few components with the Freelander 2. However, it was never designed to take a larger six-cylinder engine, which all the SVR's rivals have. In 2013, the company did launch the Autobiography Dynamic hot Evoque, powered by a 285 PS 2-liter turbo, but this would be no match for the BMW X4 xDrive35i or the Porsche Macan S.
When Land Rover designed the Evoque, the global economy was still gripped by hardship and engineers probably thought cost-conscious customers would prefer 2-liter turbos over V6 engines. However, things have changed since then and larger engines are back on the agenda. Powered exclusively by V6 turbo engines, the all-new Macan SUV from Porsche is sold out for a whole year right now.
The Autobiography Dynamic model lacks the design punch or the catchy name people looking for a sports offroaders want. But, the rendered SVR has the same sort "grrr!" factor as Audi's RS Q3, its chin spoilers and multitude of exhaust pipes exuding aggression.
So how about it Land Rover, will the supercharged V6 fit inside an Evoque?
Rendering by Theophilus Chin
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