Land Rover Discovery Sport - Should You Buy One?

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Land Rover reckons that this Discovery Sport is the most versatile premium compact SUV currently on sale. Jonathan Crouch takes a look at the revised version.

Market and Model

In theory, Discovery Sport pricing starts from around £32,000. But that figure only gets you a base D150 diesel version lacking three things that most Disco Sport customers want, namely seven seats, automatic transmission and AWD. If you want all those things on a base D150, you're looking at a starting price of around £37,000 - quite a lot different. Add a premium of nearly £4,000 to that if you want the mid-range D180 diesel; or around £6,000 more if you want the top D240 diesel. All the AWD diesel variants feature auto transmission, 7 seats and Land Rover's MHEV mild hybrid 48-valve technology.

As do both of the conventional green pump-fuelled engines. More Discovery Sport buyers will be wanting petrol power this time around and all ordinary petrol models also get seven seats, AWD and auto transmission. The P200 variant starts from around £37,000, but you'll need around £42,000 for the top P250 derivative. Various trim levels are offered across the line-up - base 'Discovery Sport', then 'S', 'SE' and 'HSE', plus there's an 'R-Dynamic' option if you want something that looks a bit sportier. You have to have 'R-Dynamic'-spec if you want the P300e PHEV Plug-in hybrid version which is priced from around £45,000.

Various nice touches have been added to the range for you to specify. We'd take a look at the brand's 'Ground View' technology. This uses camera imagery that offers a virtual 180-degree view beneath the vehicle, projected on to the centre-dash touchscreen. You can also now add in a wireless 'phone charger and create a 4G WiFi hotspot.

Cost of Ownership

The D150 diesel variant that most buyers will choose manages a WLTP-rated combined cycle fuel return of up to 47.8mpg and an NEDC-rated CO2 reading of 140g/km. That's in front-driven manual form. If you go for the auto AWD powertrain you have to have if you want seven seats, those figures fall to a max of 40.0mpg and 147g/km. Check out the perkier D180 and D240 variants and you'll find that thanks to the addition of 48-volt mild hybrid technology with this faster engines, the running cost returns aren't that much different. The D180 manages up to 39.6mpg and 150g/km, while the D240 manages up to 38.8mpg and 168g/km.

As mentioned elsewhere in this report, the conventional petrol units benefit from MHEV too and that makes them a far more credible option when it comes to running costs than would previously have been the case. The P200 variant manages up to 30.32mpg on the WLTP combined cycle and 179g/km of NEDC-rated CO2 emissions. While the P250 manages up to 29.9mpg and 182g/km. The P300e PHEV plug-in version manages between 36-44g/km of CO2, up to 175.5mpg on the combined cycle and a 38 mile all-electric driving range. That emissions figure means a notably low Benefit-in-Kind taxation rating.

With all the conventional AWD petrol and diesel models, a more sophisticated 'Active Driveline' system ensures that you spend more time in efficient two wheel drive when extra traction isn't needed. Residuals should be reasonably strong; certainly better than the volume brand alternatives in this segment.

Summary

In theory, there are lots of competitors for this car. But loyal Disco Sport buyers don't tend to consider them. Thant's partly because 'D'-segment SUV 7-seat rivals from Volkswagen, Peugeot, SEAT, Hyundai and Kia don't have Land Rover's brand equity. Partly because they can't tow as effectively. And partly because they can't hold a candle to this car off road.

There were issues with the original version of this car though, primarily in the way that it's fuel and CO2 emissions lagged behind the opposition. So the adoption of mild hybrid 48-volt tech in this revised model is welcome. Rivals are still more frugal, but Land Rover has closed the gap. The cabin improvements and the extra technology features will help this car in the showroom too. If you wanted one of these before, you'll want it even more now. And if you didn't, it might be worth taking another look. 'Above and beyond' was the objective in re-developing this model. In considering the end result, you'd have to say that mission's been accomplished.

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