When it comes to the realm of the SUV, there’s little that excites me more than Land Rovers. They are the embodiment of what the segment is meant to offer. It’s not about setting lap times around a race track, or outright handling, or looking sporty. It’s about offering a capable vehicle that has lots of space, is well equipped and offers enough performance to keep up with modern traffic.
Nothing does this better than a Land Rover Discovery. I know because I just drove the new one. In fact I towed my race car to Dezzi on the south coast of KZN with it and it was delightful.
So, why do I like the Discovery quite so much? Well to start it’s exceptionally capable off road. Land Rover’s terrain response 2 system offers various modes for different road surfaces, like sand or mud. That configures the all wheel drive system to best utilise the available traction. The Discovery’s air suspension allows ground clearance (and accordingly wading depth) to be altered based on the mode or by user preference which adds another level of off road ability.
The Discovery offers a massive amount of space from its interior. Designed to be quite a square shape (as with its predecessors) means it’s basically one big box and can swallow as many as 7 people with room to spare, or you can fold the seats flat and fit the entire contents of a small house in the back.
Speaking of the interior, it’s an exceptionally nice place to be. My test unit wore a two tone cream and black leather option that oozes elegance. It’s well equipped too, with all the bells and whistles you’d expect from a premium SUV.
The D300 derivative I used has a 3.0 litre turbo charged diesel motor with mild hybrid technology. 221kW and more torques than you’ll ever need means the Discovery gets its 2+ ton mass down the road with vigour. Towing a race car was a breeze, too. Fuel consumption was quite respectable at 12.5l/100km for the journey.
There’s a lot said about the Land Rover brand. Jokes about reliability, resale value and the like are thrown around by those who prefer Japanese or German manufacturers. But the fact remains, Land Rover has always made the ultimate, true, premium SUV. And nothing about that has changed with the new Discovery.
