Land Rover unveils 2019 Range Rover Evoque

Land Rover has revealed its replacement for its fastest-selling model of all time, the 2019 Range Rover Evoque.

Revealed at a converted brewery in east London's ultra-cool Brick Lane overnight, the second-generation Range Rover Evoque is set to arrive Down Under around the second quarter of next year with pricing beginning from $64,640 (plus ORCs).

The original Range Rover Evoque invented the premium compact SUV segment, or that's what Land Rover likes to claim. Keen to hold onto its best-seller spot in markets like Australia, the British SUV-maker has little intention of messing with an exceptionally successful formula that has, so far, led to almost 800,000 sales over eight years.

That's why, instead of "ripping it up and starting afresh", Land Rover design boss Gerry McGovern took a more conservative approach, tasking his team of stylists to carefully preserve the Evoque's "distinctive DNA".

"How can we make it better without losing that DNA" -- was the creative mantra driving the development of the second instalment of the shrunken Rangie.

In pictures you might argue McGovern may have gone too far with the preservation, with the new car looking more like a clever mid-life facelift rather than an all-new car.

In the metal, it's another story and fans of the baby Range Rover will be relieved to see the changes are far more noticeable. And they should be, since Land Rover claims 99.9 per cent of the 2019 Evoque's body is all-new, with only a set of door hinges carrying over from before.

It's up close that you begin to appreciate design details like the smoother Velar-inspired integrated grille, the hidden flush door pulls, slimmer headlights, cleaner lines and precise panel gaps.

In other words, the Evoque looks and feels more grown up and sophisticated.

Interestingly, this has also meant ditching all of the old car's faux plastic wheel-arch protective cladding on the front and rear fenders. It seems the British car-maker has finally woken up to the fact 75 per cent of all Evoques live in the city and that any 4x4-fakery from now on just won't do.

For the second-generation Evoque, Land Rover has ditched the three-door and focused on the more family-friendly five-door.

Measuring in at 4371mm long (+1mm), 2100mm wide (+10mm) and 1649mm tall (-11mm), the well-portioned mid-size SUV maintains roughly the same footprint as the old car but now features a 2681mm wheelbase -- 21mm longer than before.

Both the Evoque and its cousin, the Jaguar E-PACE, share the same wheelbase. This is curious since Land Rover claims the second-gen Range Rover is "all-new" and sits on Land Rover's Premium Transverse Architecture (PTA) -- not JLR's elderly D8 architecture that underpins the Jag and the original Evoque.

It's understandable that JLR would would want to disassociate the 'all-new' Evoque with the D8 platform as it was actually a modified version of Ford's original EUCD (2006) platform -- which was really a stretched version of the Ford C1 architecture (2003) -- that underpinned the second-gen Focus.

After plenty of prodding and poking, another engineer finally admitted to us that PTA is related to the Ford legacy architecture but in its latest guise is more "revolution" than "evolution".

He's right, since the new Evoque chassis incorporates a new integral link rear suspension that's mounted lower (liberating 10 per cent more boot space), completely new front pseudo MacPherson front struts and plenty of expensive-looking weight-saving aluminium parts.

That said, despite the use of plenty of exotic materials, the 2019 Range Rover Evoque is fractionally heavier overall than the car it replaces, although the same engineer insisted most of the extra mass is accounted for by extra safety gear and new technologies.

Unlike rivals like the Audi Q5, Land Rover says there simply wasn't space to package air suspension as platform limitations meant such a luxury would eat into the cabin.

Engineers behind the new Evoque promise class-leading comfort from the new adaptive (optional) dampers and unbeatable refinement.

This includes lowering the engine mounts to reduce lateral rotation of the engine under acceleration -- a move that is attributed with substantially reducing vibration from entering the cabin.

Speaking of engines, Land Rover says that from launch 90 per cent of all Evoques sold will feature some level of electrification. This includes introducing a mild-hybrid (MHEV) version of the car-maker's turbocharged 2.0-litre Ingenium petrol and diesel powertrains.

The 48-volt mild-hybrid system uses an 11kW engine belt integrated starter generator and an underfloor battery.

The system boosts efficiency in numerous ways. The first is it allows the Evoque to coast at speeds below 17km/h, idling the engine to save fuel in situations like decelerating while approaching traffic lights. Capable of firing the engine back up in just 600 milliseconds, the function is claimed to be 20 per cent faster than traditional systems.

Better still, the electric motor can boost the engine's overall torque and 'torque fill' the pause before a turbocharger spools up to deliver full boost.

In the 184kW turbo-petrol powertrain, the MHEV system increases power by 25 per cent and boosts efficiency by 15 per cent, reducing emissions by 8g/km to a very reasonable 149g/km of CO2.

Buyers wanting more performance will also have the option of a 220kW twin-turbo that has the MHEV system and can hit 100km/h in just 6.3 seconds

Most customers Down Under, meanwhile, will be more tempted by the 2.0-litre MHEV Ingenium diesel that comes with either 110kW or 132kW -- the latter can hit 100km/h in 8.8sec and average 5.8L/100km -- but not at the same time.

All models get a ZF-sourced nine-speed automatic.

Some 12 months after launch, the British car-maker will introduce its PHEV version of the Evoque that blends a punchy 149kW 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo Ingenium engine with an 11.3kWh battery pack and a small, rear-mounted 80kW electric motor.

Unlike the Volvo XC40, JLR is unlikely to offer a full pure-electric version of the new Evoque. Instead it's more likely to launch a standalone Range Rover EV based on the bespoke Jaguar I-PACE architecture.

Land Rover hasn't released towing capacities yet but it's hoped the new Evoque will offer an improvement over the old car's 1500kg maximum tugging capacity.

What has improved is the Evoque's ability in the rough. Already pretty accomplished off-road, the new version should be even better at not getting stuck, thanks to its new Terrain Response 2 software that's combined with the car-maker's latest all-wheel drive hardware.

Claimed to weigh 6kg less than before, the new Evoque's all-wheel drive system features a front-axle disconnect function that reduces drag through the transmission at 120km/h by an incredible 75 per cent.

When slip is detected the system reconnects the pair of rear-driven wheels in just 300 milliseconds.

The rear differential, meanwhile, now neatly packages twin clutches for full torque vectoring.

Finally, new algorithms governing the Terrain Response now mean that in 'Auto' mode off-road the car is quicker to react to the changing conditions under tread.

Despite mounting the new hardware for the mild-hybrid battery below deck, engineers are proud the Evoque can now wade depths of up to 600mm deep -- 100mm more than before.

Making off-roading easier, the Evoque sequel gets Ground View tech that effectively allows you -- with the help of on-board cameras -- to peer 'through' the bonnet to the front wheels when traversing narrow gaps or treacherous rocky landscape.

A similar camera mounted in the Evoque's trademark shark-fin antenna also projects a widescreen image, improving visibility both on and off the road.

It's the changes in the cabin that will delight both existing owners and new buyers to the brand. Adopting its dual-screen Touch Pro Duo infotainment system, the look and feel of the cheapest Range Rover is nothing short of trespassing into Velar territory.

Better yet, thanks to over-the-air-updates, Land Rover claims the Evoque's infotainment system will remain cutting-edge and, with embedded AI learning your habits and behaviour, the combination of a clean cool design, decent functionality and plentiful on-board tech is likely to give rivals like the Audi Q5 a run for its money.

Land Rover's first Evoque was a pioneer so the second generation could have been another chance for the British car-maker to radically reinvent what a compact premium SUV is, or should be.

Instead, the Range Rover Evoque plays it safe and is shaping up top be all the better for it.