A TOUCH of the top selling Range Rover Evoque is making its way into the latest Land Rover Freelander as the booming British brand takes its baby up a notch.

Distinctive new light clusters, especially at the rear and a smart new interior will be arriving on the new Freelander when it goes on sale in the next few weeks.

With prices ranging from £23,700 to £39,805 the changes are what Land Rover is describing as a premium overhaul for its most affordable SUV.

Although given a facelift two years ago the Freelander 2 is facing increasingly stiff competition from newcomers such as the Audi Q5 and Honda's new CR-V - not to mention the Evoque itself.

Subtle the external revisions may be they have significant impact and give the Freelander a smarter look at the front.

Most noticeable are the circular red rings which now make up the rear lamps giving it an unmistakable appearance from the back.

Inside, the dash has been cleaned up and is less complex with fewer switches while a full colour graphic display is now included in the instrument cluster.

There is also an electronic parking brake, push button starter and a new layout for the Terrain Response off-road controls which have all freed up space, especially in the centre console.

The effect is to create a more luxurious feel, something very apparent on the top range HSE Lux models with plush leather upholstery - a rich brown hide on the car we drove - and fold down armrests attached to the front seats.

Other features include programmable climate control to get interior conditions comfortable before you get in, a powerful Meridian sound system and a rear view camera, handy not only for parking but when hitching up a trailer.

And when it gets chilly there's a heated seats and a heated steering wheel - devices which were appreciated when we put the new Freelander through its paces around the Land Rover Experience centre at Montebello some 100 miles north of Montreal in Canada just after the first snow of the winter.

In conditions where temperatures were dipping as low as -20C the new Freelander proved itself more than capable with its electronic traction systems and hill descent control delivering plenty of grip on snow and ice.

The Freelander may not have the same sort of ground clearance as the larger Discovery but that is its only shortcoming. On road and in poor conditions it is a stalwart performer.

A noticeable improvement on the new models is a quieter cabin, particularly when accelerating.

The engine line up remains the same with two versions of a 2.2-litre diesel available developing either 150 of 190ps.

The higher powered engine is auto only and has the edge when it comes to performance delivering useful acceleration of 0 to 60 in 8.7 seconds while fuel economy is rated officially at 40.4mpg with emissions of 185 g/km.

Include some serious off-road driving and the consumption is considerably greater. On our 200 mile trek in Canada where more than a third of the journey was on snowy forest tracks we saw an average of 27.1mpg.

Best economy in the Freelander comes from the two-wheel-drive versions which Land Rover says are good enough for 47 to the gallon.  Significantly they have emissions below 160g/km making them more attractive to business users.

Like the Evoque the Freelander is built at Land Rover's factory at Halewood on Merseyside which is now in full swing, working 24 hours a day to meet demand.

Land Rover's global sales are soaring and already this year it has sold more than a quarter of a million vehicles - an increase of more than 40 per cent compared to last year.