Don’t miss the signature dial shifter, which rises from the dash when the engine is started, or the punchy and potent Meridian audio system, which kicks your eardrums in the face and gives them an atomic wedgie.

You’ll find space for four adults, though relatively small rear door openings mean entry is fairly tight. Overall passenger roominess is adequate, not abundant. Ditto the cargo hold: there’s little issue if you pack lightly, though it does fill up quickly. Visibility and headroom are both better than your writer expected, given the low-looking roof line.

The loaded-to-the-nines tester also got the latest in hazard-detection technology, including Forward Collision Alert. The latter impressed your writer by not being overly sensitive, not causing numerous false alarms, and not reducing confidence in the system, and also, by detecting real collision threats with time to spare, twice, on my watch. One of these was caused by being cut off ahead of a red light, the other by a momentary lapse in attention as I tried to find something else on the radio. By monitoring your closing rate on the next vehicle in traffic, your speed, and your current pedal engagement situation, the system makes a call as to when to alert you to hit the brakes, before you’re thinking of hitting the brakes. It’s well set up indeed.

Ditto the Auto Stop system, which shuts the engine down when it would otherwise be idling, reducing fuel use. Many Auto Stop systems make plenty of noise and a hearty shudder through the vehicle as a high-powered starter motor works to achieve millisecond engine restarts, though Evoque’s system is quiet, very smooth, and all but imperceptible if the stereo is on, even a little. This is how Auto Stop should be set up.
So, two very well-executed examples of high-tech.

All models run a 2.0L turbo four-cylinder, packing 240 horsepower and slightly more torque. It’s a solid all-around performer: easy-breezy low-rpm pulling power for daily traffic, and power to spare when a boot drops on the throttle, accompanied by a mildly-pleasing hum. The acceleration won’t leave you feeling as though you’ve been punched in the schnoz like a Top Gear producer, but the deep, torque-rich reserves for passing and merging are appreciable.

Most shoppers will find this so-called Si4 engine to be adequate all around, a good thing since it’s the only powerplant available. Mileage on my watch, including plenty of city, highway and off-road driving in the cold, landed at 11 L/100 km.

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