After months of teasers, preview pictures and videos as well as a multitude of revealing spy shots, the 2016 Range Rover Evoque Convertible has just been introduced. As expected, the car is based around the facelifted 2016 model year Evoque and has been dubbed by the British marque as the first luxury compact SUV convertible.
While drop-top SUVs and crossovers are a rarity these days, Range Rover does have expertise in this field and has drawn on this in developing the Evoque Convertible. The car is unsurprisingly based around the three-door Evoque and uses the same chassis. However, due to the additional strengthening measures employed, most notably with stronger A-pillars, underbody bracing and roll-over bars, the Evoque Convertible weighs 270 kg more than the hardtop.
At launch, the Range Rover Evoque Convertible will be offered with two engines across Europe. The entry-level model comes fitted with the Ingenium 2.0-litre TD4 diesel engine delivering 178 hp and most importantly, returning 5.1-litres per 100 km and just 149 g/km of CO2 emissions. Additionally, a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine is offered in Europe, and the sole engine in North America, with 240 hp on tap and mated to a nine-speed automatic transmission driving all four wheels.
As for the folding roof itself, it is a fabric unit that can be retracted in 18 seconds and raised in 21 seconds at up to 30 km/h. Interestingly, Range Rover claims that the Evoque Convertible is just as quite as the five-door Evoque when the roof is in place.
As the Evoque Convertible is based around the facelifted Evoque, it receives the same updated headlights and taillights. Other key design elements include the large front air intakes, blacked-out front grille and eye-catching rear diffuser.
The 2016 Range Rover Evoque Convertible will celebrate its world debut at the LA Auto Show 2015 next week.
This super-premium SUV Cabrio will decidedly accomplish a slam-dunk victory over its rivals in its class with its impeccable design profile and specs. I’ve read that this all new Evoque convertible is a beast that can easily wade through a wide range of hostile terrains. But hopefully it can also effortlessly deal with the wind noise and turbulence. If not, the only option will be to mount an additional wind deflector like the Windblox windstop that I installed lately on my drop top after putting up with the annoying draft for an unreasonably long time.