If you want to go fast in a Range Rover Evoque today, your options are fairly limited. The most powerful engine available is a turbocharged, 2.0-liter four, making just 237 horsepower. That’s not a lot of thrust for a crossover weighing in at 3,680 pounds.
Britain's Autocar reports that a high-performance version of the Range Rover Evoque is under consideration, and may come equipped with a 300 horsepower, high-pressure turbo variant of the Evoque’s 2.0 liter engine. Evoque program director Davis Mitchell has been driving a prototype fitted with the hotter engine, and reports that the Evoque's chassis is more than capable of handling the added power.
If Land Rover builds such an animal, branding it poses a challenge. Land Rover has no performance subcategory for Range Rover models, and higher output Range Rovers are simply labelled “supercharged.” All current Evoque models are already turbocharged, so calling the high-performance variant the Evoque Turbo wouldn't carry a lot of meaning.
Land Rover wants to get the branding and identity right, since the entire Evoque line will potentially draw new buyers into Range Rover dealerships. If it were us, we’d label it the Range Rover Evoque Sport and call it a day, but that’s probably why we write about cars instead of drafting marketing campaigns to sell them.
