What is it?
The top-of-the-range diesel version of the new Land Rover Discovery '5', soon to be seen displayed up on ramps and at improbable and eye-catching angles outside various Land Rover dealerships near you.
Powered by a 254bhp 3.0-litre turbodiesel V6 and coming with an impressive list of standard equipment that includes LED headlights, a 14-speaker premium audio system, rear-seat entertainment screens and 21in alloy wheels, this version of the Discovery is probably Land Rover’s biggest in-house threat to the continuing sales success of the Range Rover Sport - although you can bet your pension that Land Rover itself won’t be selling the car in those terms.
It’s a mightily plush and upmarket car, then, but somewhat different than the Range Sport, and also nothing less than the most capable car that Land Rover claims it has made to date. As a result of the move away from the Discovery 4’s old semi-separate chassis, the Discovery’s ground clearance has actually been reduced from 310- to 283mm (which, whisper this, is actually no more than a Mercedes-Benz GLE gives you at its most rugged, and less than you’d get from a Mercedes-Benz GLS).
But the new Land Rover Discovery will wade through as much as 900mm of water, is considerably lighter than the car it replaces, retains a low-range transfer gearbox and has a more sophisticated suite of electronic ‘terrain response’ traction and stability control systems than any Land Rover that has come before it.
Not that so rare a combination of off-road capability, onboard luxury and typical Land Rover-brand suburban-set desirability comes cheap, of course. Land Rover charges £8000 more for this car than either Audi does for an equivalent Audi Q7 or BMW does for an X5 30d; some of which premium is justified by the Discovery HSE Luxury’s amount of standard kit. But that high showroom price, multiplied by the high benefit-in-kind (BIK) tax banding that a relatively large, heavy and un-aerodynamic Land Rover inevitably comes with, will probably make this Discovery pricier to own than its rivals by hundreds of pounds per month rather than by tens.
With that in mind, you might well observe that the TD6 engine only improves on the 0-62mph performance of the cheaper-to-tax 2.0-litre SD4 model by a couple of tenths of a second. Plus, you might note Land Rover’s own admission that the four-cylinder car actually handles better, and then you might wonder if the V6 is worth the considerable extra outlay. Well, in our book, it certainly is: provided you’re buying a Discovery for the reasons that Land Rover expects to motivate you.
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Land Rover worries me these days.
Sadly...LR is going too far into the luxury, trendy, London market...it has started believing that it cannot do wrong and one day this success will take a step back. They will never fail but the current range of good but not that good models...the knobbly, average to drive and over priced Discovery Sport, the now dated and fading Evoque, this disappointing Discovery and the vastly too late Defender replacement leave just the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport to still be the Land Rover we would WANT....and the Velar...well fingers crossed but forget that silly base price because the only one you will want or be able to sell again will land at £70/75,000...so it had better impress..not only please!
ftm594 wrote:
"Sadly...LR is going too far into the luxury, trendy, London market...it has started believing that it cannot do wrong and one day this success will take a step back".
BANG ON THE MONEY. I am so glad I am not the only one who thinks this! I owe you a pint, sir! ;-)
AddyT wrote:
The only opinion that matters is will customers buy these new models - and the answer is a resounding YES. As a consequence, more people are employed by JLR, suppliers in the UK have grown and exports are up. But still some complain...
AddyT wrote:
You're both wrong. LR have moved the Discovery to the luxury end of the market because BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Volvo forced them to, and in so doing, they have created space for the new Defender, which will also be more luxurious but will meet the needs of those who want something more utilitarian. The previous Disco always suffered in comparisons with the Germans/Swedes, and now its competitive on road, and overwhelms them off-road. The annoying thing is that very few testers actually take the Q7/X5/XC90 off road to demonstrate really how rubbish they are, which would be the fair thing to do as they sell on their SUV capability and yet are really just jacked up estate cars.
So, stop criticising LR for stepping up to meet the competition, I felt like slitting my wrists reading your gloomy comments. JLR is an incredible UK success story, and with Brexit looming you'll need plenty more companies to follow in their footsteps; you should be applauding them not knocking them.
Bluey
But I can see this has left room for the next defender fitting the gap left by the new disco. At least I hope so as if it does, that is where my money will be going - enough to be used for everything - dog transport, rugby transport, towing large trailers, getting full of mud and not worrying about getting in and out in wellies, then good enough to head to any posh occasion in.
New disco too town and not enough country for me. See off-road group test for details.
But I can see the argument that it is a winner for sales, well positioned and good luck to them on that. After all they are there to grow marketshare, and not cater for the minority - me included.
Shakespeare V2.0
Real author?