Discovery 5 is the biggest, most luxurious, most off-road-friendly Land Rover that money can buy. Want even more? Then you'll be in the territory range rover.
The question is, why do you need "more car" than a disco? It's a veritable automotive Swiss army knife, capable of carrying seven adults farther up a mountain, down a river, or straight into a luxury hotel than anything else. And in 2021 it gets new headlights, new bumpers, a fresh set of engines and a much-needed new infotainment system. As you can see, there are moreR-Dynamic sports body kit and 22-inch wheels to disguise the huge volume of the body.
Compared to the old Disco 3 (and the Disco 4, which was really just a light facelift), the fifth generation car is a different beast. The unibody chassis no longer lives on a separate frame, resulting in a large curb weight and predictable agricultural dynamics. Discovery now calls the all-aluminum platform home.
The base is the same as the fat Rangie, though we're told the materials used mean curb weight has been reduced by nearly half a ton. That said, it's still a machine that's more of a small hill-climbing machine, so don't expect cornering prowess from a Porsche.
Although the Disco 5 is slightly narrower than the older version, it does feel huge from the height of the captain's chair. It's frightening. Land Rover is at pains to point out that it considers the Disco a size larger than the Volvo XC90 and Audi Q7, and the rearmost seats are suitable for people who no longer wear diapers. But, as with the equally huge Mercedes-Benz GLS, you will need a lot of parking space.
But let's say you bring oil tankers to the port to earn your living, so size isn't an issue. The new engines are a real step forward from the motley collection that came before. Chief among the powertrains is a pair of inline-sixes with 48V mild hybrid boost. One of them ispetrol 360 hp - P360, by the way, - and guess what,D300 is diesel300 hpHurray for common sense. Entry-level Discos gets four-cylinder engine: either existingdiesel D250, or newpetrol P300, which dispenses with hybrid supercharging.
They are all linked to an eight-speed automatic transmission as standard, with all-wheel drive (yes) and Land Rover's confident claims that the Disco can handle the climbs, detours and tows of any contender under the sun. We tested the R-Dynamic S and SE versions of the two new six-cylinder Discoverys to get the best idea of where the sweet spot lies.
One more thing before we hit the road: appearance. It's fair to say that the Disco's featureless sides and sloping rear have made what was once a design classic a true Marmite car. And yet, despite reworking the interior, engine lineup, wheels, seats, and even paint palette, Land Rover didn't use the new panels to disguise the Discovery's flat styling. I am sure that the appearance of this car will not scare anyone away until they climb aboard and test its superpowers.
On the way
The new petrol P360 develops 360 hp. andtorque 500 Nm , accelerating big Disco from 0 to 100 km / h in 6.5 s and up to 209 km / h. Our test car was only 965 km and felt a little cramped due to a little steering wheel vibration when the revs rose above 5000 rpm min. Solution: don't raise it that high. There's enough torque to move at a decent level without pushing the limits of the engine, although if you do, there's a nice touch of a six-cylinder engine in the middle distance. Take it easy, this is a quiet cruiser with great performance.
However, it may seem unfashionable, but the Disco is a car built on a diesel engine, and what kind of diesel is the D300. Here we find a large car with an engine that she was destined to marry:300- strong ,649 Nmtwisting moment, almost as fast as gasoline, but much lighter for it. It even makes a nice noise and it's about 4.25 km/l better almost everywhere. Count on 10.6-12.8 km/l in the D300. Gasoline fuel consumption readings are alarming if you're not used to worrying about EV range.
The eight-speed gearbox rarely falls into the trap, and like all the best luxury cars, it does its job best by being completely unobtrusive. If you insist on manual control, the new metal paddles are nice to the touch, but be careful not to cut your thumb when the wheel wobbles off-road.
The main thing in disco driving isthat it's not really a car you can drive . You guide it with two fingers on the steering wheel, resting your elbow on the armrest. There's not an ounce of sportiness to it, and that's okay, because Land Rover has the Rangie Sport for that. However, the R-Dynamic trim now lets you match all those M Sport BMW X7s and AMG-line Mercs in the finishing school car park. Land Rover has done an admirable job of streamlining the ride on 22-inch wheels, but we'll still opt for the slightly more agile (not to mention less visually impressive) SE spec.
There's no doubt that the Discovery flies best on the highway, where wind noise is obvious but everything else is superbly stable and refined, or on the wide A road. In town or in the sticks, its sheer girth makes life a breeze.
It's a real pity: the Land Rover is a car built in the British countryside, for the British countryside, to be bought by the people who own most of the British countryside. Yet he does not feel comfortable in his natural home. Don't think these things will never go off-road - you'll have to squeeze past an unfortunate van or a rider twice a minute who dared to pass in the same lane as you.
We also would have preferred a firmer brake pedal response. The conventional wisdom is that a 2.4-ton luxury tank takes a long time to stop, but it would be nice if there was a bit more braking left when you just slow down at a roundabout.
As commanding as Big Landy is on the road, he's even more impressive off the road. The feeling that you can just drive this car - even the city R-Dynamic - on any slope, any surface or any natural disaster and overcome an obstacle, giving a hot back massage and enjoying high-quality concert-quality sound, is simply amazing. .
SystemTerrain Response Ground Tracking is a joy, or rather a reading that shows her opening and loosening the diffs, juggling the clutch or defying gravity on a tricky hill, is amazing to watch. It's an impressive combination of old-school brute strength, traction and outdoor mud-catching ability with fiendishly smart processing power. You'll just never need a better SUV than this, and that's just as well because, with the possible exception of the tougher Defender, there's no SUV that's as talented - or as light - as the Discovery.
In fact, it's so gorgeous that you have to wonder if it's not wasted by being limited to Her Majesty's freeways rather than her many lanes.
From within
Climb up the disco and lean back to close its huge barn door and you'll really feel like you're wearing your dad's giant coat and chunky Wellington boots. The driving position is a classic posh SUV, but the rear window appears to have a different zip code. Factor in the thickness of the pillars, and the review is infringed. You'll be relying on a fleet of on-board cameras to keep those drives from getting damaged.
So what's new? Well, the gear selector is a big improvement. The clunky old rotary switch has finally been ditched, and there's now a two-stroke selector that looks like the thrust regulator you'd find in a fancy speedboat. Also fresh are the retracted Terrain Response controls and the Defender steering wheel, which, oddly enough, doesn't really look upmarket enough for the rest of this cabin.
Up front, you'll notice crisp digital dials and the new Pivi Pro touch interface seen on the new Defender and recent Jags. Its huge size makes it easy to click on the icons you're targeting, and it brings up menus quickly. The graphics are sharp and, like a native interface, this is a clear improvement.
However, smartphone connectivity still feels a bit random. All versions of the new Disco are equipped with11.4 inch display , while under it the climate control was sleek but felt less tactile than before. They still fold down to reveal a hidden storage compartment - which feels like overkill when you could lose kids under the armrests - and there are two glove boxes to put each of your gloves in.
If you're brave enough to opt for lighter upholstery and unpolished wood straps, it's a luxurious setting, but we liked the old Disco's big, chunky sensory switchgears and the grim but bulletproof atmosphere. The new one feels almost out of place, as if the car wants you to take off your dirty shoes before you get in it and put wet, smelly dogs in the trailer rather than dirtying the lush trunk carpet.
Okay, let's say you like the luxurious design of the Disco 5. You won't need much space, as all seven seats can accommodate adults. Open the giant doors (careful in tight spaces, folks) and you'll find that the middle row has 954mm of legroom and enough room for three adults side by side.
The folding mechanisms, while power-assisted, aren't as intuitive as the Volvo XC90's, but once you get them behind the wheel, you'll find there's 851mm of legroom in the rear and plenty of room for real adults. It's also versatile: you can individually fold down each rear seat, and the second row has 60/40 split, recline and load options.
Rear boot volume is 258 liters in a seven-seat configuration and a whopping2406 liters with rear seats folded down . But to access any of them, you need to electrically lower the carpeted fold-down shelf that claims to be as versatile as the classic old split tailgate. Land Rover says it can handle 300kg before it fails, but it looks awfully flimsy. Oh, and watch your head on the sharp edges of the tailgate when it's up if you're lanky.
Final Thoughts
On the one hand, the Discovery is now so richly furnished inside, so talented off-road, and so massive that comparing it to the likes of the Volvo XC90, Audi Q7 and BMW X5 seems out of place.
There's so much Range Rover style in Disco now , and it's so massive and versatile that it seems like it belongs in a subsection of its own where only genuine mud plugs dare to tread, not exemplary 4x4s. However, make sure you really need deep reserves of off-piste talent and Disco's sheer size before avoiding these more powerful and efficient contenders.
If your lifestyle calls for such a versatile and roomy family car, there is nothing on Earth that can do so much as well as this extraordinary car. In truth, this is one of the wonders of the automotive world. You probably don't need it, but that's why you're more likely to want Discovery.
