The Discovery Sport is Land Rover’s replacement for the Freelander, and its first model from the new Discovery sub-brand. There are design cues from the Range Rover Sport in it, and although it’s not as sleek a design as the Evoque, it’s still easy on the eye; it looks good and gives off an air of great capability as well, which is important for a Land Rover
The Discovery Sport is 91mm longer than the Freelander, which means a fair bit of space has been freed up. As a result, the model coming to India will be a 5+2 seater, with the 3rd row suitable for children, very small adults and Hobbits. The cabin itself is extremely well put together, with quality to be seen everywhere, and comfort levels are high, as are equipment levels. Thank goodness there’s a new touchscreen infotainment system – the older one was a bit tardy
True to its lineage, the Discovery is an absolute mountain goat when it comes to the off-road stuff. It has a shovelful of electronic aids that help to keep you from going belly-up, with its Terrain Response system working out exactly what is needed in a given set of conditions. You can select various modes manually too, depending on the environment around you. We had studded tyres during this drive, which further aided grip.
With a 600mm wading depth, the Discovery will get you across most rivers and streams with ease. It has excellent ground clearance too, and its approach and departure angles help in dealing with the rough stuff.
Quite a handsome vehicle, that. It will look as much at home on the porch of a star hotel as it did in the freezing Icelandic countryside
We encountered some rather extreme weather conditions during the drive – this blizzard dropped visibility to less than a few feet. The Discovery took it all in its stride, however
Impassable? Not a bit of it, in the Discovery Sport
There were moments when we thought that the weather would have the final say, but the Discovery Sport simply dug in and soldiered on. It really is quite an amazing off-road vehicle.
This will give you an idea of the sort of terrain that we encountered, throughout the drive. Oh, and Iceland is beyond spectacular, by the way (not that you haven’t guessed already)
The Discovery Sport will be launched (and assembled) in India sometime in August, and will have a four cylinder, 2.2-litre diesel engine – you’ll get a choice of 187 bhp and 147 bhp variants. Expect the car to be fully loaded, and to be priced in the region of Rs 43-50 lakh, ex-showroom
