Range Rover Evoque SUV - Practicality & boot space

The Evoque’s tapered roofline lends the car a fantastically sporty appearance, but it does sacrifice practicality. Evoque buyers tend to care more about style than outright practicality, and the sales figures show that the baby Range Rover doesn’t need a huge boot. If you want a 4x4 with a big luggage area, there’s always the Land Rover Discovery Sport.

However, this new car is more practical than the outgoing model. The new Evoque sits on a thoroughly re-engineered platform, which has increased the distance between the front and rear wheels (the wheelbase) to improve passenger space. The boot is also approximately 10% larger than before.

Range Rover Evoque interior space & storage

The Range Rover Evoque hasn’t really increased in size over the last model, so passenger space is only slightly improved. Two six-footers will be able to sit behind each other, but the passenger in the rear seat will feel slightly cramped. There’s not an abundance of rear leg or knee room either making longer journeys a bit more cramped. If you carry three adults across the second row, they’ll be very snug. As the windowline narrows towards the rear, the back seats can also feel slightly claustrophobic.

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Storage space inside is fairly good, though. All four passenger doors get wide door pockets that are large enough for a big bottle and odd little bits, while the front central armrest hides a deep cubby that can be accessed by a split lid. In front of that, there’s a rubberised non-slip tray big enough for a phone, wallet or set of keys, and two cupholders can be found underneath.

Boot space

The new Evoque offers a boot around 10% larger than the previous generation model. Land Rover quotes 591 litres of space, but the company has a track record of measuring loadspace up to the roof; other manufacturers tend to quote a more realistic figure for the loadspace that ends at the parcel shelf.

With the rear seats down, there’s 1,383 litres of boot space which should be plenty for most. Handily, all three rear seats fold individually in a 40:20:40 setup, and you can flip the outer seats down using a handle in the boot.

Towing

While larger SUVs like the Land Rover Discovery can tow up to 3,500kg, the Evoque is limited to 2,000kg providing you choose a diesel with an automatic gearbox. The entry-level diesel-engined model with a manual gearbox is limited further still to only 1,600kg of towing weight, while all petrol models are rated to tow a maximum weight of 1,800kg. All Evoques can tow an unbraked trailer weighing up to 750kg, and have a maximum towball weight of 100kg.