Sebastian Anthony

Sebastian Anthony

Sebastian Anthony

Sebastian Anthony

Sebastian Anthony

Sebastian Anthony

Sebastian Anthony

Sebastian Anthony

Sebastian Anthony

Sebastian Anthony

Sebastian Anthony

Sebastian Anthony

Sebastian Anthony

Land Rover, one of the oldest and most recognisable car brands in the UK, is adventuring off the beaten path with the Range Rover Evoque Convertible. As far as I can tell, it's the world's first convertible compact luxury SUV. And despite the intrinsic engineering tradeoffs from trying to straddle three different automotive segments, I'm surprised to report that it's a rather nice car indeed.

Well, it's a nice car if you have at least $50,000 burning a hole in your pocket and you're looking for a convertible SUV at least.

Engines, storage, rear seats, etc.

Starting at $51,470 and ranging up to about $58,270, the Evoque Convertible is certainly not a cheap acquisition, but you do get quite a lot of car (and technology) for your money. There are only two engines available: a decent 2.0L TD4 diesel that puts out 180hp (134kW) and 317 ft-lbs (430Nm) and a 2.0L petrol engine that puts out 240hp/179kW but only peaks at 250ft-lbs/340Nm of torque. Both engines are attached to a ZF nine-speed automatic gearbox. In theory the diesel does 0-62mph in 10.3 secs; the petrol, 8.6 secs.

My car had the diesel engine. It was pretty nippy up to around 40mph, but then the car's massive weight (about 2,000kg/4,400lbs unladen) got in the way and slowed things down. Still, once you do get up to speed, inertia is on your side. I had a great time barrelling along country roads and crushing everything that got in my path.

Fuel economy is decent: I got about 35mpg from 400 miles of mixed urban, motorway, and country driving. The petrol engine will probably come in at around 20mpg.

Storage-wise, thanks to the folding roof, the boot on the Evoque Convertible is on the small side. Its boot comfortably fits two pieces of airplane carry-on luggage, and a few other bits and pieces crammed into the gaps, but that's about it. Again due to the semi-permanent nature of the roof, there are no "oh shit" handles or hooks to hang your clothes. There are plenty of storage cubbyholes inside the car, though: cupholders, a capacious glovebox, in-door storage that will undoubtedly accrue a huge amount of crud, etc.

Speaking of the roof, you can raise or lower it at speeds of up to 30mph. It's pretty quick and painless: you just hold down the button for 15 seconds and wait for the instrument cluster to tell you that the process has completed.

The back seats are small. Ostensibly this is a four-seater car, but it's much more like a 2+2. You could get two kids or small adults in there, and the seats themselves are comfortable, but they probably won't want to go on a long road trip with you. (And again, the boot isn't large enough for four pieces of luggage anyway.)

Lots of nice tech

The entry-level Evoque Convertible HSE Dynamic ($58,270) comes with a big 10.2-inch InControl infotainment system in the centre stack and a large, bright five-inch "driver information" screen in the middle of the instrument cluster. There's a reversing camera, lane departure warning, configurable interior mood lighting (really), and Bluetooth connectivity (phone and media) as standard.

Add the Lux package ($2,700), and you get a bunch of other high-tech features like keyless entry, a surround camera system, lane-keep assist, and parking assist. You also get 12 very loud speakers and a subwoofer.

Both models have start/stop tech that cuts the engine out when you're stopped at a red light. It worked flawlessly for me, but there is a button to turn it off if you wish.

4WD is standard across the range, too, along with a slew of the usual computer-controlled driving aids (EBA, ABS, EBD, torque vectoring by braking...). Cruise control is standard, but adaptive cruise control is unfortunately a costly option ($1,700 as part of the Driver Assistance Package or $2,700 for the Lux package). There's also an option called Active Driveline that can switch the car between 2WD and 4WD "within 300 milliseconds" for increased fuel economy, but unfortunately my car didn't have it.

There's a head-up display (HUD) option that I'm told is rather good (my car didn't have it), but again it's expensive: $2,700.

In theory, both models have access to the InControl Remote app for iOS and Android, which lets you connect your smartphone to the car's InControl infotainment system via a 3G telematics link. The app tells you where you parked the car and whether you locked it or not. It also lets you turn on the air conditioning before you get back to the vehicle.

In practice, I sadly couldn't get the car to bond with my phone, despite a couple of hours of poking buttons and driving around to find a better cellular signal.