Take Two: 2020 Range Rover Evoque Bows in Chicago With New Platform, Engines

No longer sharing bits sourced from former owner Ford, Land Rover’s smallest Range Rover-badged vehicle undergoes a comprehensive revamp for 2020. There’s a new, stiffer platform underneath and, while its overall footprint remains pretty much the same, a wheelbase stretch affords occupants a smidgen of extra room to stretch out.

First appearing on our shores in late 2011 as a 2012 model, the compact Evoque offered buyers a cheaper way to enter the tweedy brand. U.S. sales peaked in 2015; not a good thing in a market fueled by crossover lust.

For the second-generation Evoque, Land Rover sought to up the premium feel, shifting the little ute’s design in the direction of its Velar big brother (notice the flush door handles) and swapping in two home-built turbocharged 2.0-liter powerplants.

Gone is the old 240-horsepower unit, replaced by Ingenium motors boasting 246 hp and 269 lb-ft, and 296 hp and 295 lb-ft, respectively. The latter engine arrives with a 48-volt mild hybrid system attached, with a belt-driven starter-generator recouping power lost during braking and adding some of it back under acceleration. A ZF nine-speed automatic handles the shifting for both mills.

First offered in the 2020 Evoque, Land Rover’s ClearSight Ground View feature turns the vehicle’s hood transparent (when viewed on the upper 10-inch touchscreen), allowing drivers to monitor what’s going on beneath the front of their vehicle during off-road excursions. It could prove handy in locating your neighbor’s pets and kids, too.

The following scene is not something you can expect to see in real life:

With all-wheel drive standard on all Evoques, Driveline Disconnect juggles the traction duties, lighting up the front and rear axle as needed. An adaptive suspension joins the equipment roster for 2020.

Pricing starts at $43,645 (after destination) for a base Evoque S, with the five-trim range topping out at $56,795 R-Dynamic HSE. The 2020 model arrives at Jaguar Land Rover dealers in the U.S. this spring.

[Images: Jaguar Land Rover, Tim Healey/TTAC]