The northwest gale was spattering shot-like rain against the narrow window beside my ear and raising mist off the torrent coming down the track towards me. I'd venture to suggest that few Range Rover Evoques are likely to see anything like this in their adult lives, but this one had four-wheel drive and it wasn't getting off lightly. Surrounded by sodden peat-moor, in Shetland's winter half-light, this darling of the catwalk cats had escaped the pampering and gone feral.The three-door version is known as the Coupé and this one has an automatic six-speed gearbox and a 2.2-litre SD4 187bhp turbo diesel engine. Despite looking smaller than its five-door sister, it has exactly the same wheelbase and is less than half an inch shorter. It looks like its natural home is on the road, but give it the freedom it loves and you find it's got hidden talents.Buffeted by the Atlantic storm, the Evoque had already got its feet wet. On my way to the hills, ten of its 20 inches of glittering alloy wheel had been under water as I forded the point where the burn had flooded into and along the road. It's apparently capable of wading through twice that depth of choppy greys should the need arise.The single track into the heart of the moorland deteriorated into hardcore and stones, regularly gouged out into ruts, and eventually grown into by coarse bog grass and punctuated with pits of water and black earth.The Evoque has a push-button version of Land Rover's Terrain Response system where you identify the conditions you're facing then scroll through the settings to select the one you think closest matches them. Out here I was swapping between "grass/gravel/snow" and "mud and ruts"” (or "blood n' guts" as I'd rename it). There are also settings for sand and general road driving and they change the response of the engine and transmission to help you get the best out of the car.After straddling gullies and swamping the wind-shivered puddle-side grass with my bow wave, the track turned steeply uphill. The rain was now falling with malicious ferocity and there was a minor rapid running under my offside wheels. I could hear and feel the wheels taking it in turn to find grip on the gravel and dirt as drive was being distributed to those finding most traction. Confident and clever, it took me up into the underside of the brooding cloud where thick mist was added to the conditions. Coming back down, I engaged the Hill Decent Control to rein the car in to a safe 5mph.Despite the Range Rover name on the nose, this was far from the Range Rover experience. Okay, it had the tough-track technology to stray from the tarmac, and the air of luxury that comes with leather-wrapped everything, but I wasn't in an imposing wind-jammer surrounded by acres of glasshouse and burning fuel like there's no tomorrow. I was in a small, sleek wind-splitter, peeping out of cockpit windows and burning fuel at a rate on a par with many road-going hatchbacks.The biggest drawback in the hill was the lack of visibility. A low roofline and windows that are small at the front, and get smaller the further back you go, don't make it easy to confidently place yourself in the landscape, especially when you're reversing between a ditch and a bog.Back on the blacktop, that off-road ability doesn't compromise its on-road skills. Settling into the heated, body-hugging, black leather seats and picking my line along the open country roads, the car felt taut and rigid – as dynamic as it looks. Left, right, left again, up, over and down through the bends and hills, it was so easy to place where I wanted it on the road and there was no sign of wallowing.The engine is as sweet as a nut; quiet and unobtrusive, yet powerful enough to accelerate up to and beyond the speed-limit on those long, straight hill climbs.There's little more than a minor hesitation in the automatic gearshifts and the whole process is as relaxing or invigorating as you want it to be. The auto box has a circular dial-in knob that rises out of the console when you turn the engine on, and alongside the Drive mode there's a Sport mode which keeps the revs up. You can also take more control by using the paddle-shift levers under the steering wheel.That lack of visibility is a continued theme, even on the road. The front windscreen is wide and low, but there's a massive rear-view mirror which I had to keep ducking down to see under. It doesn't have to be that big. It shows the whole of the tiny rear window and, rather needlessly, lots of pillar, seat and roof all round it.That tiny back window and its diminutive fellows on the flanks mean there's no safe way to reverse by looking back through there. Thankfully this car is the luxury-leading Prestige model and therefore has a rear-view camera which is great - except in this weather where the lens is part blurred by hard-driven rain.Being a three-door, getting into the rear seat is a slow process. The big door opens wide to let you in but you use the electric slide-forward button to ease it out of the way. I got very wet waiting to get in there. If you need to do this regularly, think about getting a five-door instead; it's actually £1000 cheaper.In the back all was sweetness, if not exactly light. Aft of the B pillars, the tapering side windows are little more than viewing slots so it's a mite cosy. The two sculpted seats are very comfortable, though, and there's adequate knee and head room.The boot isn't huge, but then the car isn’t huge so no surprise there. However, it is an even shape and it can be extended by folding away the 60/40 split rear seats.When I say the car isn't huge, I really mean it. The Evoque is actually shorter than the current Freelander, but it is a thing of tremendous beauty with its narrow, high-mounted headlamps, air of chunky solidity and bulging wheelarches. It leans forwards into the world with a rising waistline and windows that taper towards the back.I'm less convinced by the way the roofline slopes slightly down from the A to the C pillar though, and you should be careful with your chosen colour scheme too. This test car is black with a contrasting white roof which . . . well, it wouldn't be my first choice.It's small, but it is luxurious, it carries a badge with kudos, it's well-equipped and it's had a very high-profile marketing campaign. So it's not cheap. The Prestige will cost you just shy of £40,000, and there's a list of add-ons that could push that up by many thousands more.In conclusion, this Evoque Coupé is a genuinely flexible car with almost sporting on-road performance and the guts for limited off-road exploits. I like its looks, its feel and its economy, and now that the kids have left home, three doors isn't the drawback it once would have been. If Land Rover's long-term bete noir, relatively poor reliability, has been properly dealt with this time, the Evoque deserves to be a world-beater. Engine 2179cc, 4 cylinders Power 190bhp Transmission 6-speed automatic Fuel/CO2 43.5mpg / 169g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 8.5 seconds Top speed 121mph Price £39,990 Details correct at publication date
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