I've been looking for a while now to replace the RR Evoque with something a bit bigger and good for long motorway runs as well as normal roads.
I've had on the shortlist:-
Ranger Rover Sport
Jaguar F-Pace
Porsche Macan S Diesel
Porsche Cayenne
Audi Q5/SQ5
Audi Q7
Volvo XC90

Practicality (boot length - rough measurements)
Evoque: 80cm (x 105cm wide)
Macan: 90cm (x 105cm wide)
Q5: 93cm (x105 cm wide)
RRS: 100cm (x 111cm wide)
F-Pace: 100cm (x 105cm wide)
Cayenne: 100-110cm (seat sliding forwards)
Q7: 120-130cm

Having looked at the Audi Q7, have decided that it's just too long (over 5m so won't fit in a standard sized parking bay). This then also rules out the XC90.
Not overly happy with the styling of the Cayenne, especially factoring it the price after reasonable options (which are pretty much all standard on the RRS). So ruled that out
Audi SQ5, good discounts, but looks dated and is afterall a 7 year old car now. Questionable residuals witht he new model coming round the corner, so have ruled that out.
So took a Macan for a couple of days. Had a test drive in a RRS 3.0 SDV6 HSE, F-Pace 2.0D, F-Pace S 3.0D.

My Thoughts:-

Macan, was by far the most sport drive, and really felt like driving a sports coupe but higher up. I didn't think it would be possible but it did. It even sounded really nice and sporty (for a diesel), probably due to the Porsche Sports Exhaust which was fitted. However the boot was on the small side and worried it would quite be big enough in the future... also, options are v expensive, you could easily get it almost to RRS money just by fitting a few 'essentials'. And no discounts.

F-Pace. The 2.0D was ok, felt as fast as the Evoque, but on paper it isn't. However, the Evoque isn't particularly quick. The 3.0D was much quicker, hardly any turbo lag, and did handle a bit sporty but not as good as the Macan. However, on the test drives, one of the entertainment systems hung and rebooted itself, and both cars had a rattle coming from the driver's side dash mounted speaker. This was very off-putting, given that I personally from previous experience don't rate Jaguar reliability or build quality too highly!

RR Sport: Demo was running on 21" wheels, but comfort seemed just fine. Almost no road noise, compared with the other two. Handled bumps and road imperfections much better than the other two. Not as good round the corners and roundabouts, but still better than the Evoque. Nicer quality interior than the other two.

So as you can probably guess by now, I haggled a decent discount/part-ex valuation and did a deal on a new Range Rover Sport 3.0SDV6 HSE...

Unfortunately I threw out the WhatCar? magazine that tests the F Pace against Macan, SQ5, Merc and BMW equivalents but the ratings were 1) F Pace V6 Diesel - best all rounder for day to day driving, 2) Macan - Best drivers car but rear seats and boot too small and very very expensive to spec to same as standard as F Pace, 3) SQ5 - felt old compared to the Macan and Jag, 4) Mercedes 5) BMW X5 - out of it's depth in this company! I have also read the group test in Autocar F Pace/Macan V6 Diesels where Macan came out ahead of F Pace by the tiniest margin, but the tester mentioned that actually the best comparison would have been against the BMW,Audi and Mercedes equivalents and then it would have been a decisive victory for the F Pace by a very big margin. Both tests were the F Pace 3.0V6 S. All the tests I have read say to avoid the 22" wheel option on F Pace and go for 20's or 21"s and the cars tested had active dynamics (I think this is Jag speak for RRS's Dynamic mode but without the transfer case and low ratios). The later test was in the 22nd June Autocar between Macan and F Pace. Auto Express has also named the F Pace 2.0 AWD Auto as it's SUV of the year in their issue of last week.
Sounds like you made the right decision though, is yours an HSE or HSE Dynamic because the Dynamic mode makes a noticeable difference to the handling as well has giving you the low range gear box and eDiff 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Summary: wanted something a bit bigger than an Evoque. Discounted stuff much bigger, tested direct competitors of the Evoque and then picked the only vehicle that fitted the original brief anyway.

Welcome to the joy of the RRS. You'll love it!  2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

Tim in Scotland wrote:

Sounds like you made the right decision though, is yours an HSE or HSE Dynamic because the Dynamic mode makes a noticeable difference to the handling as well has giving you the low range gear box and eDiff

RRSTDV8 wrote:

Summary: wanted something a bit bigger than an Evoque. Discounted stuff much bigger, tested direct competitors of the Evoque and then picked the only vehicle that fitted the original brief anyway.

Welcome to the joy of the RRS. You'll love it!

Haha, yes basically ended up getting something which looked like an Evoque but bigger

Any particular reason you didn't consider Discovery? As you were after a bigger boot, it is more practical than everything else on your list and very comfortable too. Also Discovery Sport ... not as nice as RRS and a few others you looked at but that's reflected in the price. DS is quite practical and if you were interested in Macan, Q5/SQ5 and F-Pace size-wise, it seems to me like an obvious contender.

If sportiness is the reason then fair enough but then I am not sure if XC90 should have been on the list at all. Current: Volvo XC90 T8 Inscription Pro PHEV with some optionals on top
Gone: MY16 RRS2 3.0 SDV6 Autobiography Dynamic, Carpathian Grey & Santorini Black Sliding Pano/Ebony & Ivory 2 Tone
Gone: MY13 RRS 3.0 SDV6 HSE Black Edition, Orkney Grey/Ivory
Gone: MY09 RRS 2.7 TDV6 HSE, Santorini Black/Almond

Quote:

Any particular reason you didn't consider Discovery? As you were after a bigger boot, it is more practical than everything else on your list and very comfortable too. Also Discovery Sport ... not as nice as RRS and a few others you looked at but that's reflected in the price. DS is quite practical and if you were interested in Macan, Q5/SQ5 and F-Pace size-wise, it seems to me like an obvious contender.

I know exactly what you mean. Wife is one of the main reasons why I went for another RRS despite wanting to downsize and save a bit of money. May be next time ... Can't blame her too much though as I enjoy the car more than she does at the end of the day. Current: Volvo XC90 T8 Inscription Pro PHEV with some optionals on top
Gone: MY16 RRS2 3.0 SDV6 Autobiography Dynamic, Carpathian Grey & Santorini Black Sliding Pano/Ebony & Ivory 2 Tone
Gone: MY13 RRS 3.0 SDV6 HSE Black Edition, Orkney Grey/Ivory
Gone: MY09 RRS 2.7 TDV6 HSE, Santorini Black/Almond

Good assessment. I agree the Macan is a hoot to drive but the cargo space is comical.

Cayenne design is also long in the tooth. Think a redesign is forthcoming. 2016 SCV8 Dynamic - Firenze Red/Pimento