So Taz, how did you get on? Another member of the failed FL2 clutch/DMF club, twice.

Maybe cracking open the piggy bank  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Attended the LRE in Coniston Cold, North Yorkshire yesterday, decided to have a look at the Evoque, already had experience in the Freelander and never test driven the Evoque.

First impression, the 5 door is OK with me, the three door doesn't appeal at all, SWMBO hates both, but as she won't drive it she doesn't count

Had a quick tour of the car, boot too small for us on our Scottish trips so that was a stumbling block, 95% of the time it would need to carry a laptop and camera gear, roofbox would solve the problem.

Inside the car was a very nice place to be, driving position comfortable, not quite as commanding as the Freelander, although I felt is was more confidence inspiring through the bends, immensely helped by the excellent steering feel and magna ride suspension, it really did feel glued down to the road, a 100% improvement of the Freelander which is too light and un-engaging.

Dashboard and controls, again ahuge improvement, this was a top spec model with everything, all round cameras, TV, Sat nav, split screen, blind spot warning, etc etc, overall very very good, clear instruments, good info display with very useful indication of HDC speed.

The lack of a gear lever proved not to be an issue, I prefer the dial arrangement and given the new features of the gearbox it is much better to use, sport mode has flappy paddles which rounf the twisty Dales roads was a joy to use, another very useful feature of this is that, when in 'D' you can downshift with the paddles and the box will go into manual mode, without any further intervention after a while it reverts to 'D' automatically, this is a very welcome feature, I hate the Freelander for having to swap over to sport, put it in manual and have to swap back again.

Driving experience on and off road was excellent, ride at first seemed a little harder but the overall package was streets ahead of the FL in dynamic handling terms. The view out of the cockpit was surprisingly good and rearward vision whilst driving was not impeded by the small window, reversing was easy for me as I tend to use the mirrors, got used to driving vans years ago with no back window, everyone should learn this way.

However, there is one serious ommission in my opinion which became obvious on the off road course and could potentially lead to injury.
Whilst traversing some pretty rutted ground, both the instructor and my wife went to grab the roof mounted grab handles, there are none he himself said he was always reaching for it!!
The grab handles on the doors are not ideal as I found then too far back to be of use, I am sure handles could be fitted but when getting in and out of the vehicle you would probably catch your head given the low roofline, day to day wouldn't be a problem but when you expect something to be there and it isnt, cracking your head against the B/C pillar is no fun.

Overall, it is a very impressive car, I don't care about its image, I buy a car to suit me and would certainly have one of these, side by side with the new Freelander in the car park I could make a direct comparision, the Evoque won hands down, the new Freelander, although much updated with the new dash is still now an 'old' package.

Next summer I will look at offers, possibly swap to Evoque if price is right otherwise I will keep this until the new Freelander 3 is announced, that will be one hell of a package if LR get it right.

Paul

E&OE

Excellent write-up Paul
Although only a small percentage drive through mud ruts and rocks, for those that do, I find the omission of grab handles a bit disturbing.
Makes you wonder ............. Another member of the failed FL2 clutch/DMF club, twice.

Last Friday I went back to Luton Hoo with my mate to drive the Freelander we couldn't have the first time. This time we drove a brand new MY13 Freelander with just 100 miles on the clock, can't say I registered the exact spec, except it was the more powerful engine, 6 speed auto. It was interesting to compare the facelift with my TD4 GS manual which was just 4months old. Some useful displays, e.g. for HDC and they've moved the Terrain Response controls to a worse location, otherwise pretty similar.

There was no "classroom" briefing, we got a tour of the car and a brief demo of the controls then it was our turn. My mate & I shared the driving time. We had a blast. It was great to be able to experience what my car is capable of and we did learn a bit - more than I'm likely to attempt in my own car! I would certainly recommend anyone to have a go, especially if like me you can get a voucher from your dealer.

I've posted a few pics in my gallery.

I posted a short account in my blog, here  2020 Defender D200 110S Pangea Green
Gone: 2018 L550, TD4 SE Tech Auto, Carpathian Grey
Gone: Defender 90 200Tdi, Grey Raptor
Gone: 2012 FL2, TD4 GS Manual, Santorini Black