I felt like the engine was sucking up butterflies when I accelerated hard… but I soon got quite used to it, the smoothness is quite intoxicating. I’m a big fan of big engines, but this V6, mated to such a huge body, did make me feel like the Paris Climate Agreement’s worst enemy. The V6 diesel develops 258bhp and 443lb ft of torque, returns mid-30s to the gallon, and accelerates to the nearest horizon smoothly through its eight-speed automatic gearbox. It responds really well to a throttle press – 7.7 seconds to 62mph is not to be sniffed at – and it reacts even better when you put it in Sport mode. It drives beautifully, and it’s no longer a rural workhorse, this is now affirmably a luxury car. I have never driven the previous Discovery models but I’m reliably informed this new one is far happier on the road than any of its ancestors. The one we drove was specced out to £69k… ouch. It’s a far wiser engine choice but does put the starting price beyond £50k. The Disco (that’s what Discovery owners call ‘em) we had for the weekend was the V6 diesel model. Of course, this would be a wise choice for fuel consumption and emissions, but because it’s still a 2 tonne car, a 2.0 litre engine won’t be much use dragging it up Haldon Hill (a notoriously long and steep hill) near Exeter, with a full load. This new, relative lightness, means for the first time ever, you can get a 2 litre 4-cylinder engine, and a far lower entry price of £43k. It’s been built upon a new all-aluminium platform which it shares with the new Range Rover Sport, which Land Rover claims is up to 480kg lighter than the really heavy old model. This has been built from the ground up to be as much at home in a muddy field, as it is on the road.Ĭompared to the previous Discovery models, this fifth-gen car is a lot different. It’s not basically a car that’s raised suspension, big tyres, and 4wd added as the last thing on the list. Land Rover don’t make SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicle), they make proper 4wd vehicles, and I’d go so far to say that if you want to go off-road in a serious way, then a Land Rover (or Range Rover) is just about all you need to look at. WHAT HE SAYS… A bit of backgroundįirst up, let’s clear up the whole 4×4 and SUV confusion. So here is our ‘his and hers’ review of the Land Rover Discovery. Colour (obvs), where I put my coffee, how easily can I get the kids to and from the car in the pouring rain, can I PARK the damn thing, and does it make me look like a Yummy Mummy? (Told you they were the important bits). I will then tell you what we REALLY want to know. If you’re not at all interested in technical stuff like torque, V6 engines, and terrain response, feel free to skip the next bit. I won’t remind him, there are probably a good few years left yet before that happens. He’s a bit of a car nut, has had some nice motors in his time, and even though he wouldn’t admit it, dreams of the day when the kids aren’t the main factor in choosing what his next car will be. So rather than me attempt to write knowledgeably about something I have, er, no knowledge on, I’m handing over the reins (or should that be key fob) to the Other Half. To be honest it feels like the kitchen sink is thrown in the car for good measure some days. What we really wanted to know was – how good is it as a family car for people like us?Ī family in our situation with three or more young children, three big car seats, and a double buggy to fit in. So when we were asked if we’d like to drive a Land Rover Discovery HSE for a few days, we were happy to put it through its paces – and not just in terms of its performance on the road (and off!) albeit of course the Other Half was more than happy to see what it was made of. But can they fit the car seats? Trying out a Land Rover Discovery HSE Yes they have three (or more) back seats. You can imagine how pleased we were about that. If you can’t – feel free to read all about it here.Īfter hours of research it became apparent, not many cars can accommodate this kind of family set-up. To make matters worse we’d only just bought a brand new BMW which had to go back within a few months, as it couldn’t fit all three car seats. Mainly because we also had an 18 month old, so we’d have three children under the age of 2.5 – all in baby car seats to fit into a back seat. When we first found out we were having twins, literally the first thing the Other Half said was “We’re going to need a bigger car”. So could the Land Rover Discovery be the answer? Disclaimer – we were given the use of a Land Rover Discovery for three days free of charge for the purpose of this review, but opinions, words and pictures are our own.įinding a car to fit three young children in bulky car seats is a bit of a nightmare.
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