If the words ‘Land Rover Discovery’ make you leap for joy, grab your warmest coat and set course for adventure, then you’re in luck. The Discovery Sport is the first step towards a new family of Discovery-badged family cars.
It shares a lot of its undergarments with the Range Rover Evoque, but it’s longer, with a remarkably clever new rear suspension arrangement that allows you to fit five or even seven people into an SUV measuring less than 4.6 metres long.
The more you look at it, the more sweetly it seems to balance the rugged Discovery looks with the modern, street-savvy boldness of the baby Range Rover
Looks and image
If it didn’t helpfully say Discovery on the bonnet, you’d have a hard time telling it apart from the Evoque from the front. Move to the side and you see the higher roof line, the bigger windows and the completely different rear end. It looks expensive and the Discovery name adds loads of off-road prestige.
In fact, the more you look at it, the more sweetly it seems to balance the rugged Discovery looks with the modern, street-savvy boldness of the baby Range Rover.
Space and practicality
The Discovery Sport is spacious, especially at the back, thanks to its new rear suspension technology that removes the top links and leaves much more space in the cabin. The middle row slides forward to create more legroom at the back, while leaving enough habitat for adults in the front seats.
The seven-seater comes with a space-saver spare wheel, while the five-seat option holds a full-size spare beneath the boot. Two-feet-deep water is reduced to a mere inconvenience; the Terrain Response system helps manage everything from tarmac to mud, gravel, soil, ruts and sand.
The car come with an attractive touch-screen system and all buttons in the dashboard are large and practical, proving easy to press even with thick gloves on during the cold and humid winter months.
Behind the wheel
Driving over rough Maltese roads was never easy for standard cars, but the Discovery Sport handles the terrain extremely well. The version on test came with a 2.2-litre diesel engine and did a good job when paired with the nine-speed automatic gearbox. The ZF unit works seamlessly and flatters the rest of the car.
Value for money
The Discovery Sport starts at €35,900 for the two-wheel drive version and €38,900 for the four-wheel version.
If you’re after a lifestyle-biased compact SUV that can tow, seat a whole family and handle even the toughest off-roading that any normal person is likely to throw at it, this really is in a class of one. For such a price, the badge is truly hard to resist.
Who would buy one?
Families now have a fresh option. This is a tall car that can seat loads of people in comfort, with the latest technology for everyone and up to seven USB ports for charging devices. But it’s not a leviathan SUV, it won’t rub people up the wrong way (as much) and it offers more practicality and capability than anything else on the market for the same money. It’s a mighty all-rounder.
This car can be summed up in a single word: Empowering. If it was a mobile phone, it would look good, have all the mod-cons and would be unusually robust to boot.