What is it?
The Land Rover Land Rover Discovery was invented in 1989 to allow Land Rover to fight new rivals such as the Mitsubishi Shogun, and it has since proved not just capable but also almost cultishly likeable.
No wonder the concept hasn’t changed in five generations, except to mature and improve. And today's Disco duly follows the same rough recipe as the original: it's the love-child of rugged Land Rover Defender and lavish Range Rover, which is to say formidable off-road but equally happy on the motorway. Plush but not posh. And for a price that, were people more rational, would have it outselling the Range Rover Sport and Range Rover Velar.
And yet, the Discovery's long-standing niche in the Land Rover line-up has recently been skewed by the arrival of the rejuvenated Defender. By swapping the body-on-frame setup for the D7 aluminium monocoque used by the Discovery and Range Rover (albeit heavily beefed up), the Defender’s on-road manners have been transformed, while its interior feels like the Palace of Versailles compared with before. It's now an effortlessly useble machine, as well as one that's more capable than almost any other.
Where does this leave our friend the Discovery, then? In quite an uncomfortable position, truth be told, which is why the updates for 2021 have been aimed at gently re-establishing the model in the Land Rover line-up, as well as keeping it competitive with the Volvo XC90, Audi Q7 and Mercedes-Benz GLE.
The makeover starts with new air springs, new anti-roll bars and recalibrated dampers and steering to imbue the Discovery 5, which has been with us since 2017, with more precision on the road while sacrificing not an iota of that capability off it. The current Discovery has never been something you could describe as 'agricultural', but the chassis tweaks are aimed to make its road manners better than ever.
And, if anything, its ability to negotiate improbably tough terrain has also been improved, as you can now manually configure the ride height and locking characteristics of the rear and centre differentials irrespective of the mode selected for the Terrain Response 2 programme. That you can also now see in real-time when and to what extent those differentials are locking, via the superb new 11.4in Pivi Pro touchscreen infotainment, brings an extra bit of fun and involvement.
Wading depth also remains class-leading, although the Discovery’s commendable breakover, approach and departure angles are easily outdone by those of its sibling. And while we're at it, the braked-trailer towing capacity is still 3500kg across the range, which is as much as you can lug around on a regular Category B driving licence.
The interior then benefits from that hugely improved new Pivi Pro infotainment system, whose curved touchscreen lifts the ambience, but the decision to swap the lovely Range Rover-inspired steering wheel for one clearly Defender-related is curious.
Join the debate
Add your comment
I love the way journalists mention the offset rear numberplate as if its responsible for the compromised looks of the Disco 5 - its nothing to do with it. The problem is someone got the basic proportions of the back end of the vehicle wrong before it was signed off, the rear end is just too big and angled oddly for the rest of it. You'll never change this without a major re-design which they're never going to do at this stage of its lifecycle. I read how well the Defender is selling, and that demand for used Disco 4's is very high - I wonder why.
This is probably the best iteration of the Discovery 5, and the most complete vehicle in LR history, although the D250 is just as capable, for a few grand less.
It makes a lot of sense for a largeish family in the UK and is probably the best ski trip vehicle ever invented ;-)
I'll be buying one of these later this decade (dv) as a long-range family car for when the great electric revolution sweeps these shores...
Pity it still has the Fat Annie rear end.