That Land Rover has taken ownership of a BMW X1 as a competitor product is to be expected. Less so are the other cars that have been in and out of Gaydon during Land Rover's development of the Evoque: the Mini and Audi TT. That'll tell you a lot of what you need to know about the Evoque, in which this week we joined Jaguar-Land Rover's chief engineer, Mike Cross, for a drive around Wales.

Our test Evoque was built in May last year and spent the early part of its life disguised in full Tony-the-Tiger livery, so it looks a little scruffy around the edges. Nonetheless, the car pictured is a validation prototype, which means that the mechanicals are in their latest iteration.

Although some of the finish isn't perfect, you can tell that it'll look good. It's all very simple and clear, with a steeply raked centre console and a rotary dial to control the six-speed gearbox. It feels more like a saloon than it does a traditional Land Rover. The seating position is a kind of hybrid between the two: more upright than a sports saloon, but more reclined than a Freelander's. That feeling is increased by the lower roof, too.

Which brings us to challenge number one: making the smallest Land Rover product share the characteristics of its biggest one. "We want the Evoque to feel agile and fun," says Cross, "yet it also has to be refined, with Range Rover levels of sophistication."

Nonetheless, this Range Rover is, ultimately, still a Land Rover product and has to perform off-road. That presents its own challenges, too. "With a tall car the challenge is getting good roll control with an appropriate level of comfort for a Range Rover. The physics of a tall car are against you," says Cross. As the roads we're touring start to feel like proper Welsh roads, the balance between those things feels pretty good from where I'm sitting.