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The new Range Rover Evoque from Land Rover has been waiting in the wings for some time, since its first official introduction in July 2010 via a live global Internet launch that was seen right here on TheAutoChannel.com (in fact, we still have it available and you can watch it at the bottom of this page). We followed it through the Paris Motor Show, the Los Angeles Auto Show, Geneva Motor Show, various stages of its prototype testing, and a host of interim public showcases and press announcements. Well, the Evoque is finally here, on the ground – paved, dirt, mud and snow – and I had the pleasure of driving it last week in British Columbia, Canada in all those conditions.

'Alumni photo' of Wave 3 of the Evoque Ride and Drive
Land Rover put on a first-class media event for automotive journalists that really fit the vehicle. We started from the fantastic Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel in Vancouver and ended at Whistler Mountain about 80 miles away. Now it certainly sounds simple enough to say that we drove only 80 miles, which in terms of most ride and drive media outings is just a trip around the corner. But a quick pop around the block is not what the organizers had in store for us.

A literal boatload of Evoques
Instead of loading into our assigned vehicles at the hotel, per normal, we were loaded onto three small boats and headed north across English Bay to, we presumed, our awaiting chariots. Except it didn’t quite work out that way… About three-quarters of the way we caught up with a barge carrying all the Evoques. Our boats circled the barge, moved in, and then one-by-one we were off-loaded onto the barge.

Getting ready to off load in North Vancouver
At this point, it became clear that we were going to take part in a mini Normandy Beach-style landing in order to hammer home the point that the new Evoque is a credible off-roader. Although the landing and the immediately ensuing charge up a make-shift hill was not serious off-road driving, it was just a brief taste of what we would really drive through two hours later at Whistler.

Continue reading here: 2012 Range Rover Evoque Review +VIDEO