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It was the middle
of fall when a cold, wet, weather system blew in from the Pacific and
dumped the season's first significant snow on California's Mammoth
Mountain Ski Resort. The next day I received an enthusiastic email from
co-worker Karla Sanchez asking to swap cars with me for the weekend so
that she could zip to Mammoth Lakes for opening day on the slopes. I
obliged but with the agreement she would give me a full report of the
Rover's first frolic in foul weather.
Here are her observations:
"This is an overall awesome rig to take up to the mountains: It stuck
well to the snow-covered surfaces, and rarely felt like it was going to
lose traction. Driving at about 50 mph up Minaret Rd, the chassis would
occasionally lose grip, but the traction system would quickly actuate,
catch and correct any sliding. At one point, I approached a turn too
fast and began sliding, but only for a moment, as the tires promptly
gripped the snow, allowing the brakes to quickly bring us to a halt. I
was a bit nervous pulling into six inches of fresh snow on the driveway
of our rental cabin, but the Evoque plowed right through without
hesitation. I drove with the snowy/icy surfaces mode engaged most of the
time until the end of the weekend when all the snow had melted off the
roads. And even then I drove over some large ice patches with the
regular mode engaged, but the Evoque glided over them without incident,
proving that the stability system is reliable even if the proper mode is
not engaged.
Room is not very generous inside, either. We had small and large
suitcase, a medium duffel, three snowboards, and a few other small bags
stacked inside, minimizing the already compromised rearward visibility.
My backseat passenger was more then a bit cramped, but be kept his
complaints to a minimum, and in fact, over the course of a few days grew
to love the car's design and style - his eyes were opened to the
benefit of small SUV with lots and lots of luxury amenities. He was also
was charmed by the multi lens camera system and thought all the
different views were a great novelty.
Overall, the Evoque's condensed size and
sure-footed stability system make it a great weekend runner to where the
payment ends and the lifts begin."
"This is an overall awesome rig to take up to the mountains: It stuck
well to the snow-covered surfaces, and rarely felt like it was going to
lose traction. Driving at about 50 mph up Minaret Rd, the chassis would
occasionally lose grip, but the traction system would quickly actuate,
catch and correct any sliding. At one point, I approached a turn too
fast and began sliding, but only for a moment, as the tires promptly
gripped the snow, allowing the brakes to quickly bring us to a halt. I
was a bit nervous pulling into six inches of fresh snow on the driveway
of our rental cabin, but the Evoque plowed right through without
hesitation. I drove with the snowy/icy surfaces mode engaged most of the
time until the end of the weekend when all the snow had melted off the
roads. And even then I drove over some large ice patches with the
regular mode engaged, but the Evoque glided over them without incident,
proving that the stability system is reliable even if the proper mode is
not engaged.
Room is not very generous inside, either. We had small and large
suitcase, a medium duffel, three snowboards, and a few other small bags
stacked inside, minimizing the already compromised rearward visibility.
My backseat passenger was more then a bit cramped, but be kept his
complaints to a minimum, and in fact, over the course of a few days grew
to love the car's design and style - his eyes were opened to the
benefit of small SUV with lots and lots of luxury amenities. He was also
was charmed by the multi lens camera system and thought all the
different views were a great novelty.
Overall, the Evoque's condensed size and
sure-footed stability system make it a great weekend runner to where the
payment ends and the lifts begin."
| Our Car | |
| Service Life | 8/20,566 miles |
| Average Fuel Economy | 21.7 mpg |
| CO2 Emissions | 0.89 lb/mile |
| Energy Consumption | 155 kW-hr/100 mi |
| Unresolved problems | None |
| Maintenance cost | $0 (oil change, inspection, cabin-air filter, engine-air filter) |
| Normal-wear cost | $0 |
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