Land Rover’s Discovery Sport is an exceptionally well-built and thought-out car, writes Craig Donaldson
With its combination of contemporary design, practical versatility and impressive engineering, the Discovery Sport has attracted in excess of 40,000 buyers across 170 global markets. Its starting price of $53,300 on-road means it is a well-priced alternative to the likes of Audi’s Q5 ($62,600) and BMW’s X3 ($61,100), and it goes up to $69,000 (as tested here for the Discovery Sport SD4 HSE Luxury Auto) if you want all the bells and whistles. There are a number of reasons this model is gaining market share in the competitive mid-size SUV segment. It sits very nicely between its big brother Range Rover models for drivers who want luxury as well as some serious off-roading capability, and its smaller sibling Evoque, which is the ideal compact SUV with class, for more urban-minded drivers.
The Discovery Sport is as capable and versatile as it is comfortable and pleasant. The SD4 HSE Lux model, for example, comes with a 4-cylinder, 2.2-litre turbocharged diesel engine, which delivers a healthy 140kW@4000rpm and respectable 420Nm@1750rpm. While this won’t knock your socks off in the performance department (nor is it designed to), it will deliver more than adequate power for most situations – and an impressively frugal fuel consumption figure of 6.1 litres/100km (combined, or 7.1 litres/100km for urban driving). Mated with a 9-speed automatic (or 6-speed manual) transmission and combined with the likes of stop-start technology and smart regenerative charging, this means you can average more than 1000km per tank.
Practically pleasant
This clever thinking extends to the interior of the Discovery Sport SD4 HSE Lux, which is as pleasant as it is practical. In the early stages of the Discovery Sport’s development, Land Rover actually invited a range of families to a UK development centre and watched as they climbed into a variety of existing SUVs, accessed third-row seating, synced electronic devices, attached child seats to Isofix anchor points and placed drinks containers in cup holders. The results of this exercise helped Land Rover’s designers and engineers craft its interior into one of the most versatile spaces in the Discovery Sport’s class.
The Discovery Sport is packed with great technology too, including a sun load sensor (which measures the intensity of the sun’s rays every 200 milliseconds, automatically adjusting the air conditioning to counteract solar gain through the windscreen) and a “stereo camera” (which “reads” global road signs for speed limits, notifying the driver on the instrument cluster if the speed limit is exceeded). The Discovery Sport also comes with up to four 12V powerpoints, while six USB charging sockets can be specified for all three rows, which allows multiple electronic devices to be recharged simultaneously.
Otherwise, all the creature comforts are as one would expect, including an easy-to-use central 8-inch colour TFT display, paddle shift gear controls, configurable mood lighting, grained leather seats in the SE and HSE models as well as a raised seating position for the driver to improve all-round visibility.
Exterior styling
The design of the Discovery Sport could best be described as functionally stylish. Upfront, it is characterised by a clamshell bonnet, distinctive two-bar grille and slim, wraparound design and circular daytime-running lights. At the rear of the car sits a rugged skid plate flanked by twin exhaust outlets, robust bumper and subtly tapering roof, which not only adds to visual appeal but also improves aerodynamic efficiency (with an impressive rating of 0.36Cd).
Practicality and functionality underpin the design of the Discovery Sport. At 4590mm long, the Discovery Sport is 239mm shorter than the seven-seat Land Rover Discovery, while a wheelbase of 2741mm creates more legroom for passengers. Overall, the size of this relatively compact SUV belies the significant interior space with optional 5+2 seating. Another example of functionality can be found in the shape of the A-pillar and door mirrors, which, together with a special acoustic windscreen lamination, have been designed to minimise wind noise.
Overall, the Discovery Sport is comfortable and refined to drive on-road, while retaining a capable all-terrain capability for which Land Rover is renowned, and is the best value for money option in its class.
Image: supplied
