Land Rover Discovery Sport 2019 first drive

Speaking of economy, our 237bhp diesel R-Dynamic S test car - which came with a five-seat layout, as opposed to the optional seven - claims a WLTP-certified figure of 39.6mpg, while CO2 emissions stand at 187g/km. Combined with that nine-speed auto ’box, it makes for a likeable - if not entirely convincing - powertrain.

For starters, it feels nowhere near as quick as its 7.7sec 0-62mph time suggests it should. It may have 369lb ft of torque to call upon, available from crank speeds as low as 1500rpm, but in a car with a DIN kerb weight of 1934kg (and probably more than 2000kg in real-world terms), that doesn’t amount to much.

There’s a hint of mid-range punch when you plant the throttle, but the rate at which this heavy SUV gathers pace is unequivocally relaxed. There’s certainly enough urgency here to overtake slower cars, but you’ll need plenty of room and a generous amount of patience to do so. Despite its position at the top of the diesel range, this D240 model isn't what you'd call especially quick.

But then again, in the context of a large four-wheel-drive family car that’s capable of travelling quite a bit farther from the beaten track than most of its competitors, a shortage of straight-line performance isn’t the end of the world. More of a concern is the fact that, when you do need to accelerate with some sense of urgency, the gearbox has a tendency to be rather indecisive. 

Strangely, throttle response in terms of being able to encourage kickdown is generally good, but there’s quite a lengthy delay between the prod of the accelerator that prompts said kickdown and the gearbox actually finding the gear it’s looking for. You can see the rev counter spiralling towards the redline without any improvement in straight-line pace as the ’box appears to rifle around in its bag for the right ratio. And when it does eventually find what it’s looking for, it then tends to hold on for just a bit too long - so an already slow motor begins to sound and feel even more out of breath.

There is good news, though. Driven at a relaxed pace, it’s a fantastically smooth and refined engine. In fact, so good is the engine isolation that from within the cabin you barely even know it’s chugging away when you’re at a standstill. That said, at motorway speeds the car's reasonably bluff front end and chunky door mirrors generate a fair amount of wind noise, but it’s a relatively minor grievance.

Prices for this revamped Discovery Sport start at £31,575 and can rise as high as £49,675. While our R-Dynamic S test car’s £43,975 price tag seems like pretty good value against a BMW X3 xDrive20d M Sport (£44,015 for a less powerful four-cylinder diesel engine), it’s worth noting that the options fitted would easily push that price up closer to £50,000 - if not further.

The Discovery Sport may not have the dynamic finesse as the X3, and its four-cylinder diesel engine may not muster quite the same level of refinement, but this feels like a more earnest take on what a family SUV should be. That you can have one with seven seats, and take it through rivers and up mountains far easier than you could any of its rivals, will no doubt sweeten the deal for plenty of people, too.