The Vehicles Earth

The Range Rover Evoque is the hottest car on the market right now - and CAR Online will tell you what it's like to own and run, in our long-term test diary over the next six months or so.

The baby Range Rover costs from £27,955 for the entry-level ED2 Pure. Range Rovers are typically four-wheel drive, five-door hatchbacks, though uniquely the Evoque is available with optional front-wheel drive to boost efficiency, and with a three-door 'coupe' bodyshell. CAR has chosen the coupe, which adds about £1000 to the price versus a five-door.

Evoques run four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines, and we've gone for the high output 2.2-litre diesel, pumping out 189bhp and returning 44.1mpg, with a 174g/km CO2 rating. The list price is £39,990 for this combination of engine, bodyshell and plush Dynamic trim.

Standard Dynamic equipment includes a sport setting, which uses adaptive damping to stiffen the suspension and unlocks sportier engine and gearbox maps. Other notables include parking sensors front and rear (with a backwards facing camera), automatic xenon headlamps, Bluetooth 'phone compatibility and hard disc drive navigation. You also get perforated leather seats and door inserts in black, white or the natty pimento red and ebony colour scheme we selected.

Deep breath (and deep pockets) because here comes the list of options:

• understated Mauritius blue paint (£550)
• contrasting black roof with an enormous glass panel (£1290)
• vast 20-inch chrome shadow style alloys (£225)
• a surround camera system, which relays the off-road terrain onto the 8-inch high-res screen (£615)
• Park Assist, which sizes up a space then automatically parallel parks the Evoque for you (£460)
• Keyless entry (£500)
• automatic dimming rear-view mirror (£155)
• an upgraded stereo, replacing Dynamic trim's 380 watt Meridian sound system to the 825 watt system with subwoofer and 16 speakers (£995)
• dual-view, which means passengers can watch a DVD on the central screen, while the driver's viewing is restricted to the nav map for safety reasons (£600)
• ill-fitting, untethered rear mats (£80)

Our total options bill comes to £5470, which is a few hundred quid more than the average spent by Evoque customers. Total price is £45,460.

As we rack up the miles, we'll give you our verdict on which of these options are money well-spent, and which were as good value as a gated village full of Premiership footballers. We'll also inform you how the Evoque drives, whether it's reliable, how capable it is off-road on its supersized shoes, and how close we get to the official mpg figure. So stay posted to CAR Online - next update in a couple of weeks.

By Phil McNamara