When Range Rover revealed the new concept LRX in a London design event, attended by Victoria Beckham, some years ago, few imagined that the statuesque model (the LRX not Victoria) would revolutionize the compact sporty SUV segment.
The design signature was not to everyone’s taste at the time, but it has established itself over the years as a pivotal car for Range Rover and indeed for the industry.
The LRX morphed to become the Evoque with minor design changes.
The Evoque is designed to turn heads, as confirmed by critics and fans alike.
Its impact was such that even some German companies modified their concept SUV designs to emulate the Evoque.
The segment has developed now to become the fastest growing trend in the market and companies can’t produce compact SUVs fast enough.
Magical gearbox
For 2014, the Evoque acquires a smooth nine-speed auto gearbox that contributes to a much improved economy — in addition to extra options and creature comforts.
For the first time in an automatic Evoque stop-start technology is on offer.
Its compact dimensions would suit many SUV young drivers in the region.
Testing an Evoque for a week in the UK proved to be a rewarding experience.
The car is classy and attractive from the outside but the real attraction of the Evoque is in the luxurious cabin, the seating commanding position and ease of driving.
The test car came in Santorini black with panoramic roof, ebony premium leather seats and ebony black strata brushed aluminum veneer.
Even the wheels were in 20 inch black forged alloys.
The all-black combination, including the black privacy glass, gave the car a mysterious, even a touch sinister appearance.
Yet, the inside is both soft and high tech.
The test car has such options as heated steering wheel, rear seat entertainment, Intelligent, Lux and Black packs.
These packs include features such as Lane Departure Warning, Traffic Sign Recognition, Powered Tailgate, Digital TV, Surround Camera System, Blind Spot Monitor and keyless entry.
Buyers will have to be careful in their choice of options as these can pump up the price by up to $15 K.
Most of these options are from the flagship Range Rover.
The drive in a new Evoque is quite smooth due to the new gearbox and the excellent drivetrain.
The engine is a turbo charged 4WD 2.0 liter petrol which delivers 240 PS with lower fuel consumption and 20 percent reduction and CO2 emissions.
It covers a combined cycle of 36.2 MPG; not bad for a vehicle of that size and weight. Emission is a mere 181 g/km.
For an SUV, the Evoque is responsive and car-like in its road behavior.
Although, rear visibility is still an issue due to its unique design, the reverse camera and monitor more than compensate for this shortcoming.
One of the useful options was the reverse cross traffic detection which warns of potential cross hazards during reversing.
The Evoque is comfortable on long journeys and the auto nine-speed gearbox is a major feature. Although drivers have the benefit of manual paddles behind the steering wheel, the system is so smooth and efficient, paddles are hardly needed.
In the UK and Europe, sales of the Evoque are showing no signs of slowing.
The car is regarded as a design icon and a fashion statement.
This notion has not reached the Gulf markets yet as large 4x4 dominate the scene. This is likely to change once young consumers sample the new crop of compact SUVs, including the brilliant Evoque.
These are practical and desirable cars with strong residuals and are fun to drive.
However, having no spare wheel may not go down well in the region.
The segment also includes BMW X3 and Audi Q3 and will soon include such rivals as the Lexus NX and Hyundai ix25.
If you are thinking of buying a compact SUV, test-drive an Evoque and discover a new pleasure in SUV driving.
Evoque: The baby Range Rover that spawned a whole segment
Evoque: The baby Range Rover that spawned a whole segment
Filipinos master disaster readiness, one roll of the dice at a time
- In a library in the Philippines, a dice rattles on the surface of a board before coming to a stop, putting one of its players straight into the path of a powerful typhoon
MANILA: In a library in the Philippines, a dice rattles on the surface of a board before coming to a stop, putting one of its players straight into the path of a powerful typhoon.
The teenagers huddled around the table leap into action, shouting instructions and acting out the correct strategies for just one of the potential catastrophes laid out in the board game called Master of Disaster.
With fewer than half of Filipinos estimated to have undertaken disaster drills or to own a first-aid kit, the game aims to boost lagging preparedness in a country ranked the most disaster-prone on earth for four years running.
“(It) features disasters we’ve been experiencing in real life for the past few months and years,” 17-year-old Ansherina Agasen told AFP, noting that flooding routinely upends life in her hometown of Valenzuela, north of Manila.
Sitting in the arc of intense seismic activity called the “Pacific Ring of Fire,” the Philippines endures daily earthquakes and is hit by an average of 20 typhoons each year.
In November, back-to-back typhoons drove flooding that killed nearly 300 people in the archipelago nation, while a 6.9-magnitude quake in late September toppled buildings and killed 79 people around the city of Cebu.
“We realized that a lot of loss of lives and destruction of property could have been avoided if people knew about basic concepts related to disaster preparedness,” Francis Macatulad, one of the game’s developers, told AFP of its inception.
The Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST), where Macatulad heads business development, first dreamt up the game in 2013, after Super Typhoon Haiyan ravaged the central Philippines and left thousands dead.
Launched six years later, Master of Disaster has been updated this year to address more events exacerbated by human-driven climate change, such as landslides, drought and heatwaves.
More than 10,000 editions of the game, aimed at players as young as nine years old, have been distributed across the archipelago nation.
“The youth are very essential in creating this disaster resiliency mindset,” Macatulad said.
‘Keeps on getting worse’
While the Philippines has introduced disaster readiness training into its K-12 curriculum, Master of Disaster is providing a jolt of innovation, Bianca Canlas of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) told AFP.
“It’s important that it’s tactile, something that can be touched and can be seen by the eyes of the youth so they can have engagement with each other,” she said of the game.
Players roll a dice to move their pawns across the board, with each landing spot corresponding to cards containing questions or instructions to act out disaster-specific responses.
When a player is unable to fulfil a task, another can “save” them and receive a “hero token” — tallied at the end to determine a winner.
At least 27,500 deaths and economic losses of $35 billion have been attributed to extreme weather events in the past two decades, according to the 2026 Climate Risk Index.
“It just keeps on getting worse,” Canlas said, noting the lives lost in recent months.
The government is now determining if it will throw its weight behind the distribution of the game, with the sessions in Valenzuela City serving as a pilot to assess whether players find it engaging and informative.
While conceding the evidence was so far anecdotal, ASSIST’s Macatulad said he believed the game was bringing a “significant” improvement in its players’ disaster preparedness knowledge.
“Disaster is not picky. It affects from north to south. So we would like to expand this further,” Macatulad said, adding that poor communities “most vulnerable to the effects of climate change” were the priority.
“Disasters can happen to anyone,” Agasen, the teen, told AFP as the game broke up.
“As a young person, I can share the knowledge I’ve gained... with my classmates at school, with people at home, and those I’ll meet in the future.”
