2012 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque - Auto Shows

The production version of the LRX concept heads for a Paris debut.

Land Rover is using the Paris auto show to fully reveal the production version of the Range Rover Evoque—say “evoke”—the brand’s latest effort to reach urbane city slickers who are no more likely to drive off pavement than they are to stock their fridges with non-organic seaweed croquettes. Based on the 2008 LRX concept car and built off the current Land Rover LR2 platform—itself based on Ford’s European mid-size front-drive C architecture—the Evoque will hit showrooms in the fall of 2011 with prices starting around $45,000.

Drawn by Land Rover design director Gerry McGovern, the production Evoque varies little from the LRX concept, looking like a Range Rover Sport that has been stepped on. It pushes various hot-roddish buttons, including pinched headlights and taillights, a hiked-up beltline, a rearward-sloping roof, and humongous 19- or 20-inch wheels. One Range Rover tradition remains: the “floating roof,” which, thanks to blacked-out pillars, seems to be separated from the body only by glass.

A 2.0-liter four-cylinder stretches fuel mileage, and it puts out 240 hp with the help of a turbocharger and direct injection. The company says that the Evoque will be the most fuel-efficient Range Rover ever but, considering that thriftiest model sold in the U.S. currently is the Range Rover HSE with an EPA rating of 12 mpg city/18 highway, that’s not saying much.

Read More:  http://www.caranddriver.com/news/car/10q3/2012_land_rover_range_rover_evoque-auto_shows

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Promise Fulfilled: 2011 Jaguar XJ

When it comes to cars, the Brits have had a habit of coming up with great ideas. The only problem has been the execution. The original Mini is a case in point. It was a truly innovative packaging exercise -- never had so many been able to ride so comfortably in a car so small -- but hapless BMC managers never realized they were losing money on each and every one they built.

The original Range Rover is another. Smooth and fast on road, unbelievably comfortable and utterly unstoppable off it, the 1970 Rangie set a benchmark for all-terrain, all-weather capability that few SUVs come close to matching even today. But with electrics by Lucas, The Prince of Darkness, and build quality that made even the worst efforts of the UAW look like something made by German craftsmen, exploiting that capability was something best left to Rover test drivers, journalists, and customers wealthy enough to have something else in the garage as a backup.

Jaguar's original XJ sedan was another great idea hamstrung by poor execution. The low-slung XJ established the template for the modern luxury sedan; it was fast and stylish, yet it was smooth and comfortable -- key characteristics you'll find to varying degrees in every Mercedes S-Class, BMW 7 Series, Audi A8, and Lexus LS of the past 20 years. The XJ rode like a magic carpet, cosseting its passengers in its wood and leather trimmed cabin, yet its performance and handling rivaled that of raw-boned sports cars. It instantly made Mercedes-Benzes look staid and stolid; like the boring but well-built sedans for bankers from Dortmund they really were. Only problem was, by the 1970s, as Jaguar was sucked into the industrial anarchy that was the state-owned British auto industry,  the XJ wasn't so much a car as a loose assembly of car parts that all too frequently parted company.

Read more: http://blogs.motortrend.com/6701115/auto-review/promise-fulfilled-2011-jaguar-xj/index.html#ixzz10qKOxC7M