Land Rover Discovery 3.0 TD6 HSE Luxury 2017 first drive

9
Superbly comfy, practical and versatile, with much greater luxury and class than you might expect, the Discovery puts the utility back into the large SUV
Nic Cackett
Nic Cackett
23 March 2017

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).

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Related Land Rover Discovery reviews

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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What's it like?

The new Land Rover Discovery is a touch lighter, lower and less imposing than its predecessor, but it still feels very much like just about the most commanding and capable SUV on the road from the driver’s seat. Getting in will mean stepping up for almost anyone. You then settle into a driver's seat that locates your eyeline several inches above where it might be in any of the Discovery’s German rivals, and that sits you upright and bent-legged at the controls a way above both the car’s shoulderline and the melee of surrounding traffic.

The Discovery’s front seats are broadly comfortable, if a little bit short in the cushion. It was also surprising to hear longer-legged testers complaining of a very slight shortage of leg room up front.

In the second and third rows of seats, however, passenger space is very good. The rearmost row is particularly spacious, big enough even for full-sized adults to travel in, as well as fitted with proper Isofix childseat anchor points and, as in our test car, optionally available with heated seats.

The Land Rover Discovery’s practicality party tricks are the motorised folding and unfolding mechanisms for all five rearmost seats, which can be controlled from the infotainment screen up front, from buttons in the boot opening or via smartphone app. Standard on HSE Luxury cars and optional on HSEs, these automatic folding seats seem a great deal less gimmicky and more useful while you’re watching them do their thing in person than they may seem on paper. It’s just a shame that Land Rover couldn’t come up with a better solution for a loadbay cover than the fairly cumbersome conventional roller cover, which you still have to reach in, unlatch and remove the old-fashioned way before five passenger seats can be turned into six or seven.

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Land Rover’s 3.0-litre V6 diesel engine announces itself with a little less reserve than a Audi Q7 3.0 TDI does. On the move, the Discovery's mechanical refinement is good but it’s not quite as hushed as the quietest and most luxurious SUVs. There’s also more wind noise in evidence in the Discovery, fluttering its way quietly into the cabin around the door mirrors and door seals, than you’ll experience in some rivals.

Overall though, the isolation shortfall isn’t marked enough to burst the bubble of calm that the act of driving the Land Rover Discovery creates. This car’s size and bulk, its gentle ride, its precise but pragmatic handling and its torquey but laidback power delivery all combine to make for a wonderfully relaxing at-the-wheel experience, and one that’s as clearly distinguished by as effortless a sense of superiority on the road as any Range Rover. Everything about the way this new Discovery eases its way down the road reminds you of what it’s holding in reserve.

The car is directed with a typically large-diameter steering wheel that’s moderately paced and yet still quite weighty. Through corners, the Discovery doesn’t roll as hard as its predecessor, but it certainly rolls. And it doesn’t handle as keenly or grip as hard as considerably more sporting, ‘car-like’ additions to the large SUV ranks such as the Audi Q7 and Volvo XC90. Not that you’re likely to mind much.

The Discovery rides and handles like a big car – but a very cleverly tuned one. There's real accuracy and feel to the steering over the first 45deg off the straight-ahead, before that body roll gently builds, telling you loud and clear how quickly the car is meant to be driven through a series of bends and giving you plenty of margin in which to reign in your enthusiasm.

Push past that point and you’ll ultimately find a good deal less outright grip, and earlier-onset understeer on the road, than you get from the typical German premium 4x4; something caused at least in part by the all-season Pirelli Scorpion Verde tyres fitted to our test car, whereas most of the Land Rover Discovery’s opponents come on more road-biased rubber. But the car’s stability and traction control systems are clever enough to keep things under a constant and discreet sense of control even when you do hustle the car along.

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Aside from the provision of the necessary chassis compliance and wheel travel to make good on Land Rover’s claims for this car off the tarmac, the Discovery’s particular suspension tuning also makes for a superbly comfortable ride on the road. Here, the Land Rover Discovery’s total freedom from sporting pretension really pays dividends. Its suspension soothes away bumps large and small with a beautifully judged suppleness unknown to plenty of luxury saloons. Although our test car’s air suspension and 21in alloys didn’t always deal with rough surfaces all that quietly, it still set a very high standard on rolling comfort that few cars in the world could equal.

And what of that V6 engine? Well, in outright flat-out performance terms, it does indeed only give the Discovery a marginal improvement on roll-on pace compared to the surprisingly torquey SD4. The Discovery isn’t a car likely to surprise you with its briskness in the way that a Q7 does. But under part-throttle, in the lower reaches of the rev range and for its greater flexibility, the V6 does deliver useful performance gains. The engine only revs to just beyond 4000rpm, so it’s not one you’ll spin up just for the kicks – but that 443lb ft of torque does a lot to make a heavy car seem less heavy away from corners and junctions.

Should I buy one?

Some will argue the answer to that question depends if you really need a seven-seat SUV or you simply might quite like to have one. Which is nonsense.

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With the possible exception of its styling (which seems to attract as much criticism as praise) there is certainly even more to ‘quite like’ about this Land Rover Discovery than any of its predecessors. Then again, owning a Discovery will probably continue to make you a conspicuous target for the ire of certain other road users, who will doubtless continue to assume that nobody really needs a car that takes up this much road space, or one that’s designed, engineered and specified for genuine dual-purpose on and off-road use in a way that few very other SUVs can even approach.

We’ll be testing the Discovery’s much trumpeted mud-plugging ability in detail soon, hopefully before anyone suggests we’re blindly accepting Land Rover’s biggest claims for the car – so look out for a group test pitting it against the most rugged SUVs on the market.

But in truth, even if you don’t happen to run a salmon fishery, tow a medium-sized day boat, live on a remote Hebridean croft or have a family large enough to make a small football team, the Land Rover Discovery adds choice and wonderful authenticity to the SUV market. It’s the antidote to the trend that continues to make large SUVs more exotic and ‘dynamic’ by the year, but also less practical, capable and useful than they might be. And it continues to be at once deeply impressive and thoroughly likeable.

Land Rover Discovery 3.0 TD6 HSE Luxury

Location UK; On sale now; Price £64,195; Engine V6, 2993cc, turbodiesel; Power 254bhp at 3750rpm;Torque 443lb ft at 1750rpm; Gearbox 8-spd automatic; Kerbweight 2230kg; Top speed 130mph; 0-62mph 8.1sec; Economy 39.2mpg (combined); CO2 189g/km; Rivals Audi Q7 3.0 TDI, Volvo XC90 D5
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Comments
46
Add a comment…
ftm594 23 March 2017

Land Rover worries me these days.

I saw two of these at my local Dealer and came away rather disappointed. Just too much of a photocopy Discovery Sport clone...and it does not enlarge well. The proportions look awkward and the rear door is just a mess. Inside...it has showroom appeal and yet somehow looks oddly thin and cheap. Add on the gloomy 2.0l Ingeniumengine and you get a car that charges a great deal yet looks nothing like as purposeful as the old model. It may well drive beautifully, still scale mountains and cross deep rivers but it has lost it's depth of ability, luxury and Class...it is just a big Disc Sport and not much better. The pricing is a challenge...yes many will buy it but few will be Farmer Giles out to tow sheep about in an old Ifor Williams trailer.

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!

AddyT 23 March 2017

ftm594 wrote:

ftm594 wrote:

I saw two of these at my local Dealer and came away rather disappointed. Just too much of a photocopy Discovery Sport clone...and it does not enlarge well. The proportions look awkward and the rear door is just a mess. Inside...it has showroom appeal and yet somehow looks oddly thin and cheap. Add on the gloomy 2.0l Ingeniumengine and you get a car that charges a great deal yet looks nothing like as purposeful as the old model. It may well drive beautifully, still scale mountains and cross deep rivers but it has lost it's depth of ability, luxury and Class...it is just a big Disc Sport and not much better. The pricing is a challenge...yes many will buy it but few will be Farmer Giles out to tow sheep about in an old Ifor Williams trailer.

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!

"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! ;-)

Hedonist 24 March 2017

AddyT wrote:

AddyT wrote:

BANG ON THE MONEY. I am so glad I am not the only one who thinks this! I owe you a pint, sir! ;-)

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...

Bluey 25 April 2017

AddyT wrote:

AddyT wrote:
ftm594 wrote:

I saw two of these at my local Dealer and came away rather disappointed. Just too much of a photocopy Discovery Sport clone...and it does not enlarge well. The proportions look awkward and the rear door is just a mess. Inside...it has showroom appeal and yet somehow looks oddly thin and cheap. Add on the gloomy 2.0l Ingeniumengine and you get a car that charges a great deal yet looks nothing like as purposeful as the old model. It may well drive beautifully, still scale mountains and cross deep rivers but it has lost it's depth of ability, luxury and Class...it is just a big Disc Sport and not much better. The pricing is a challenge...yes many will buy it but few will be Farmer Giles out to tow sheep about in an old Ifor Williams trailer.

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!

"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! ;-)

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.

Spanner 15 May 2017

Bluey

Agree with bluey. I won't be changing my D4 any time soon for one of these. Too upmarket, and I just cannot get on with the design of the rear end.

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.

Cobnapint 23 March 2017

Shakespeare V2.0

He must have had the latest update which gives you 'half' a chance of understanding what the hell he's on about. He still needs the one that syncs the score with the actual review though. In fact quite a few do, but none so urgently.
TheDriver 23 March 2017

Real author?

Gerry McGovern actually wrote this article. It lacks Nic Cackett's normal verbosity and baffling use of the English language.