BARCELONA, Spain While I have driven countless SUVs from a multitude of manufacturers over the years, products made by Land Rover have somehow eluded me. The British automaker specializes in SUVs there are no pickups or sedans or coupes in its lineup and prides itself on building some of the most luxurious and capable vehicles in the world. I therefore looked forward to my first opportunity to drive a Land Rover, at the world press introduction of the 2020 Discovery Sport, held in Barcelona. Sadly, I left Spain feeling somewhat indifferent.The Discovery Sport saw its most recent generational redesign in 2016, so as 2020 rolls around, so does the Sports mid-term upgrade. This revision brings a few exterior changes, like new LED head- and taillights, grille and bumpers, as well as a new interior. Four variations are available in Canada, two standard Discovery Sport models, and two higher-spec R-Dynamic variations. Prices range from $47,400 for the Discovery Sport S, to $58,700 for the R-Dynamic HSE.According to Land Rover, the Discovery Sport is a compact SUV designed to cater to adventurous middle-class couples, most of which have yet to procreate so, young, childless cohabitees who are often away on weekends. If that sounds like you, the Discovery Sport just might fit the bill: Its styling is understated yet sporty; it offers off-road capability for adventurous weekend outings; it boasts up to 1,575 litres of interior storage; and if you do eventually decide to perpetuate the family bloodline, it features seating for up to seven.While Land Rovers marketing spiel expounds the merits of being the only compact SUV to offer a third row of seats, they are actually jump seats for small kids. The good news is that they are optional, so you dont have to pay for them unless you have a copious brood or really dont like somebody. Youll also get the maximum storage space without them. The interior has been completely refreshed, including a big reduction in hard plastic surfaces. The dashboard is all new, and quite attractive. I really like the cleanliness of the cockpit, which gives the Sport an airy feel. All buttons and dials except for two of each on the centre stack have been eliminated and replaced by touchscreens. When the ignition is off, the dashboard is just an array of glossy black surfaces. Push the start button and the black surfaces come to life with images and icons that serve to control the various functions. There are six USB and three 12-volt ports available throughout the interior, and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard.The large dials operate the climate controls, while the one on the right also serves as the drive mode selector. There are seven drive modes that tailor drive settings to get you over anything from dry pavement to snow to mud and ruts. An extensive off-road course along our drive revealed Land Rovers raison dtre: The Discovery Sport is easily capable of handling anything an urban dweller might encounter on the way to the remote weekend cabin in the woods.The 12-inch high-definition instrument panel is highly configurable, with a multitude of attractive display options. The only downside is that you have to scroll through various menus to call up different functions, and then have to back out to reach your default display. While all of this streamlining is visually appealing, it does make certain functions tedious. The absence of dedicated buttons for the drive modes, for example, means that any change in settings requires multiple steps. And we also experienced the first of a pair of minor vehicle glitches with the new touchscreens, when we had to set up the drive modes for a difficult uphill climb and the display froze, refusing to accept our selections until we backed out and went back into the desired menu. The two Dynamic Sport models and R-Dynamic SE come standard with a 2.0-litre turbocharged inline four that claims 246 horsepower and 269 lb.-ft. of torque. New for 2020 is a 48-volt mild hybrid powertrain thats optional in the R-Dynamic SE and standard in the HSE. It still uses the 2.0-litre turbocharged four, but a belt-driven electric motor bumps peak output to 286 horsepower and 295 lb.-ft. of torque. The only transmission is a ZF nine-speed automatic, and all-wheel drive is standard.In the hybrid, the engine shuts off at speeds below 17 km/h to reduce emissions and fuel consumption. It does this anytime the vehicle slows, acting much like a regular start-stop function, but one that doesnt wait for the vehicle to come to a complete stop before shutting off the engine. Its quite seamless in operation. Canadian fuel consumption numbers are not yet available, but European specs claim as low as 6.9 L/100 km for the mild hybrid.Unfortunately, the only vehicle available for testing was a Euro-spec Discovery Sport mild hybrid, and its spec sheet claimed a zero to 100 km/h time of 9.2 seconds. And it felt as slow, making passing a tedious,
Origin: First Drive: 2020 Land Rover Discovery Sport
Discovery
Nearly-new buying guide: Land Rover Discovery Sport
These days, if you want a family-sized SUV with five or seven seats, four-wheel drive, an economical diesel engine and a tidy driving experience, you’re spoiled for choice. However, only one model brings something of the great outdoors to the table and that’s the Land Rover Discovery Sport. It was launched in 2015 as a replacement for the popular Freelander 2, as well as a kind of cheaper and more practical alternative to the hugely successful Range Rover Evoque, launched in 2011. Today, 2015-reg examples of the Sport and Evoque start at around £13,000 for cars with 100,000-plus miles. At this money, they have the old-school 187bhp 2.2 SD4 diesel engine but the Sport has seven seats rather than the Evoque’s five and is four-wheel drive, whereas the Evoque is likely to be two. Unfortunately for the model’s early adopters, shortly after the Sport was launched, the 2.2-litre diesel engine was replaced by the new and improved EU6-compliant 2.0-litre Ingenium motor, available in 148bhp and 178bhp outputs. The 148bhp version was offered with a choice of two (badged eD4 as before) or four-wheel drive and a manual gearbox as standard, whereas the 178bhp 2.0 is four-wheel drive and available with an optional nine-speed automatic gearbox. This transmission is by far the most popular across the Sport model range. So equipped, the 178bhp 2.0 TD auto is our pick. Later on, a 238bhp version joined the line-up. On the matter of two-wheel drive, few eD4s were sold, which tells you all you need to know about this drivetrain’s suitability. However, it still looks the business, costs less to run and is cheaper to buy so may suit you, depending on circumstances. A petrol engine didn’t arrive until 2017. Also from the Ingenium family, the 2.0 Si4 petrol unit comes in 238bhp and 286bhp outputs. Both are rare but entertaining and, if you don’t do the mileage necessary to justify a diesel, worth considering. For many people, the Sport’s seven seats will be a big draw. They were standard on early models but, with the arrival of the Ingenium engine, became an option, albeit a popular one. Note, though, that Land Rover calls the arrangement 5+2, a hint not to expect much in the way of third-row space. The Sport was updated in 2017, when it received the car maker’s new InControl Touch Pro infotainment system with 10.2in touchscreen. Earlier this year, the model was given a much more comprehensive update and, by rights, should be called Discovery Sport 2 as it sits on a new platform inherited from the second-generation Evoque. But these 2017-on cars cost sky-high money and the real value is to be found at three years old with the balance of the optional five-year service plan – something like a mid-power, mid-spec 2016/16-reg 2.0 TD4 180 auto 4WD SE Tech seven-seater with 70,000 miles for £19,000. Need to know Where fitted and before you buy, give the car’s InControl Touch Pro infotainment system a workout. You’re checking for bugs. If you find any, the good news is that Land Rover released a fix in March 2018 called 17c or 3.5 that should nail ’em. Owners of diesel-powered Discovery Sports have reported fuel-oil dilution problems relating to regeneration of the diesel particulate filter. The message is, if considering a Discovery Sport, be sure your driving routine satisfies the operating criteria described in the handbook. Land Rover offers a five-year service plan on new cars so check if the vehicle you’re interested in was sold with this cover since its benefits are transferable to subsequent owners. Our pick Discovery Sport 2.0 TD 180 SE Tech Auto AWD: Mid-power version offers strong performance with good economy and refinement. SE Tech brings items such as sat-nav, auto lights and a powered tailgate. Wild card Discovery Sport 2.0 Si4 240 SE Tech Auto: If your mileage is low and you fear DPF hassles, bag a petrol Disco Sport. They’re rare (we found a 2018-reg with 14,000 miles for £29,995) but fun to drive. Top spec pick HSE Dynamic Luxury: To HSE Luxury’s Park Assist technology, cooled front seats and heated rear seats, Dynamic adds Narvik Black exterior details, a bodykit, 20in gloss black alloy wheels and special colours. Ones we found 2015 Discovery Sport 2.2 SD4 190 HSE 4WD 7st, 110k miles, £13,500 2016 Discovery Sport 2.0 TD4 150 SE Tech, 60k miles, £16,400 2017 Discovery Sport 2.0 TD4 150 Pure 4WD, 33k miles, £18,995 2018 Discovery Sport 2.0 TD4 180 4×4 SE Tech, 15k miles,
Origin: Nearly-new buying guide: Land Rover Discovery Sport
Land Rover Discovery: driving the original 30 years on
Developing new cars on the kind of budget that a German company would spend on a new dashboard has long been a speciality of the British motor industry. Many of these machines bomb, usually brought down by underfunded development programmes guaranteed to produce roulette wheel reliability, but some succeed despite such saddlings. One of the more famous is the Land Rover Discovery, which began life in 1989 as a reclothed, cost-reduced Range Rover designed to sit between the ageing Defender and a Range Rover enjoying ever more success as it was pushed upmarket. You didn’t need to look underneath the Discovery to see the similarities with the Range Rover. It shared the same windscreen and distinctively slim A-pillars, the same front door glass and much of its inner structure. But to avoid producing a vehicle of almost identical silhouette, the Discovery’s designers added a stepped roof – the raised rear section carrying slender lengths of glazing angled towards the sky. The tailgate was one piece and side-hinged rather than being split like the Range Rover’s, and most striking of all once you’d climbed inside was an unusual interior finished entirely in shades of pale blue. This was the work of Conran Design, which was asked to develop an interior suitable for a vehicle bought as a lifestyle accessory. Slender storage racks were mounted above the windscreen, stretchable overhead nets provided carriers for pith helmets and water bottles, and a massive panic handle confronted the front seat passenger. Even before you’d turned the key, it felt like you were having an adventure. There was even a small lifestyle accessory stowed within this big, four-wheeled lifestyle accessory – a detachable carry-bag made from the seat upholstery clipping to the Discovery’s centre console. The Sonar Blue interior and an impractical three-door body only lightly limited the 1989 Discovery’s success, Land Rover’s latest being decidedly more glamorous than the Shogun and Trooper offered by Mitsubishi and Isuzu. It was better off road than either of these nevertheless accomplished Japanese competitors too. The engine choice was either Land Rover’s new direct-injection 200Tdi diesel or the 3.5-litre Rover V8 that had started life 28 years earlier as a General Motors Buick engine in the US. Most buyers chose the diesel: its modest 111bhp was buttressed by a more promising 195lb ft of torque, all of this appearing at a helpfully low 1800rpm. And once you get over the mild shock of hearing what sounds like a truck engine setting Land Rover’s very first production Discovery all aquiver, it’s this stout pulling power that draws you along in pleasingly languid style. You have to work at it – the 200Tdi’s torque peak being more pointy than flat – but once momentum is gathered, the Discovery bowls and rolls along with comfortable authority. The roll comes when you shuffle the wheel of a low-geared steering system that’s remarkably cumbersome at manoeuvring speeds, but quickens at speed, when big movements produce big roll. But it doesn’t take long to compensate for this, nor the fact that you must stir the clunkily glutinous gearlever repeatedly to maintain a pace in cut-and-thrust conditions. None of which matters after a while: the airiness of this Disco, the way you look down from it towards the road below, its lightly heaving gait and the light snortings of its 2.5 four-pot diesel prove strangely restful. And no other car, now or then, provides the same in-cabin ambience of an original Discovery. It’s not just the Sonar Blue hues either – it’s the airiness of the vast cabin, the feeling that you’re viewing the proceedings from a gallery and the robustly wrought details (that grab handle and the low-range gearlever knob among them), all contriving to make it feel adventurously different. Such impressions are as keenly felt in the rear. The sheer height of the rear compartment, the surface area of glass and the comfortable commodious rear bench make this a great machine for the long distances that it conjures in your mind’s eye. This was a cost-compromised car – any 1980s Rover nerd (who, me?) is able to expose the origins of its door handles, instruments, switchgear and tail-lights (Maestro van for the last, if you must know) – but it was one capable of taking its buyers, and makers, towards excitingly fresh
Origin: Land Rover Discovery: driving the original 30 years on
Land Rover Discovery Sport revealed with new tech, familiar looks
Land Rover has revamped its best-selling model while keeping the status quo in terms of what buyers want. The looks haven’t changed a whole lot, which is good, because half of the allure of a Land Rover is the classic looks. Buyers can choose from 25 different exterior paints with a contrasting black roof, and add the Black Exterior Pack which includes Narvik Black detailing on the grille and fender vents, extending to the hood and tailgate lettering. R-Dynamic-spec’d vehicles will receive a small hint of a rear diffuser as well as a front bumper that is much more aggressive, and kind of reminds us of offerings from FCA’s sporty truck division. Shadow Atlas exterior accents and contrast stitching also pushes home the Sport’ vibe. Powering the Sport will be Land Rover’s venerable Ingenium series turbocharged four-cylinder, which makes a respectable 246 horsepower. To give it a bit of a kick though, Land Rover has added an all-new 48-volt mild hybrid system that bumps the power up to 296. The Discovery Sport is Land Rover’s volume model—it sells more of this little truck than anything else, but that doesn’t mean there’s a whole lot of compromise. You can still fit seven people in it, provided two of them aren’t big enough to ride a roller coaster, and there’s still Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to accommodate all your devices. ClearSight Ground View monitor also trickles down from higher-spec Landies, allowing you to see through the forward lower body panels. The 2020 Land Rover Discovery Sport will hit dealerships in the U.S. this summer; Canadian pricing and availability have yet to be
Origin: Land Rover Discovery Sport revealed with new tech, familiar looks
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