If a gravel driveway is as adventurous as your driving gets, something that’ll really turn heads on the school run is the futuristic Lexus RX, though. Instead, its boxy body, black plastic trims and silver skid-plates make it look sturdy and tough – albeit in a subtle, understated way. Unlike the Audi Q7 and Mercedes GLE, the Land Rover Discovery doesn’t try to hide the SUV genre’s rugged 4x4 heritage. It’s a bit like when Ikea collaborated with Lego – each great in their own right, combining to make something cool and practical.Īn update in 2021 brought new technology, new engines and improvements to the way it drives to prove it’s a desirable thing in its own right, though. With the rugged, off-road-focused Defender and the swanky city-friendly Evoque sitting beside it, the Discovery feels a bit like a blend of the two – but not in an annoying, compromising way. Let’s hope its sales decline isn’t terminal.If you’re after a big, posh off-roader with seven seats and bucket-loads of off-road ability, you should definitely take a look at the Land Rover Discovery. This is posh family transport at its most pleasingly practical. Niggling doubts about reliability – from past, first-hand experience of the Sport – and its conservative performance are the only things stopping us from awarding it a higher mark. The PHEV is a nice addition to the range, but losing the seven-seat option means it loses one of this car’s USPs, too.īut they very much do, helping keep this car right at the top of the class if it’s comfort and relaxation you’re after. What appears a light evolution of Land Rover’s (now former) best-seller is actually a bit of a tech revolution, with some properly functioning media systems up front and more forward-thinking architecture beneath.įor now, the mild-hybrid tech really is mild, and you’ll likely plump for the best diesel you can afford and barely notice the little nibbles of electric power that help smooth out the driving process. If it’s seven seats you're after on a bit of a budget, try the Skoda Kodiaq or Hyundai Santa Fe instead. Then you’ve also got the likes of the Volvo XC60, Jaguar F-Pace and Alfa Romeo Stelvio competing for the posh/upmarket dollar. The competition is pretty fierce, with the Audi Q5, BMW X3 and Mercedes GLC all featuring on the list of rivals. It’s sold as a rock-crawling aid, but back here in the real world, width restrictors have suddenly become a lot less stressful… What’s it up against? Namely ‘Ground View’, which relays yet more camera feeds to effectively let you see through the bonnet to beneath the car. Before you argue they’re a little wasted, some of it will actually prove useful away from those hypothetical green lanes. Not to mention a vast array of off-road gubbins. The rear-view mirror now (optionally) relays a camera feed – to double your field of vision behind – while there’s Android Auto and Apple CarPlay housed within Jaguar Land Rover’s latest Pivo Pro media setup. The update has also brought bigger cubby holes, more charging ports, cupholders for rearmost passengers and a plethora of technology for those up front. Though it’s worth swiftly pointing out that the P300e is exclusively a five-seater. But for an SUV of its footprint – 4.6m long, 1.9m wide, the same as a Ford Focus Estate – that’s an impressive amount of flexibility which’ll go down a treat on that cliched school run. As before, it’s described as a 5+2 seater in plain English, it’s optionally a seven-seat car with minimal boot space when you deploy its child-sized rear chairs.
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