Think of that poster boy for all things adventure, Edward Michael ‘Bear’ Grylls, and you’ve pretty well got Land Rover’s new Discovery Sport in one.
With his easy smile, and affable and rather understated demeanour, media darling Grylls is that rare type who – you’d imagine anyway – would be as much at home in a boardroom in London as he would be deep in an African jungle.
The Brits, by and large, do this so well. The character of James Bond exhibits the same sort of chameleon qualities. As does adventurer extraordinaire Sir Ranulph Fiennes.
So it is with the Discovery Sport, a roomy, versatile and undeniably chic SUV which effortlessly bridges the gap between its rugged Land Rover-based predecessors like the Defender and Discovery and contemporary Range Rover-badged models like the Sport and - more recently – the Evoque.
Here we will see three different models, in two different (SE and HSE) spec levels.
Starting off at SE we have the TD (the D is for diesel) 4 with an RRP of $78,500, and the SD4 and Si4 (petrol) which will both sell for $82,000.
Key spec items standard across the NZ trio includes an 8-inch touch screen with navigation system, heated seats, a power tailgate, 18 inch wheels, and the Jaguar Land Rover group’s revered push button electronic Terrain Response system.
Moving on to the HSE level the TD4 costs $86,000 and the SD4 and Si4 $89,500, thanks to 19 inch wheels, climate (that’s heated AND cooled!!) and multi-position memory seats, Xenon lights with High Beam Assist, a sub-equipped sound system and up-spec (250kW cfm 190kW) engine tune.
At launch NZ-bound Discovery Sport models get carry-over engines, with 110kW/400Nm (TD4) and 140kW/420Nm (SD4) versions of the company’s existing 2.2 litre turbo-diesel and a 177kW/340Nm version of the petrol-fuelled, turbo-boosted 2.0 litre.
Key thing to know and understand in terms of Land and Range Rover’s model line-ups is that the ‘Sport replaces the Freelander and takes up where the chic Rangie Evoque (trendy ‘town’ car if ever there was one) leaves off.
From the nose to the A-pillar there’s a distinct Evoque look to the Sport, but that (the A pillar) is where it stops.
From there everything (floorpan, length, height and rear suspension) changes, the ‘Sport a genuine roomy, comfortable medium-size SUV…one with a flexible seating arrangement which offers room for seven (count ‘em) in an (optional) 5+2 seating configuration.
Take up the seven seat option and when you need to sling in a couple of extra kids you simple unfold the rear pair of seats from their holding pen beneath the boot ‘floor.’
Should you be in the market for a premium SUV then the Discovery Sport is worth a serious look. The fact that most will be sold into our main centres and spend 99 per cent of their time on family duties shouldn’t colour your thinking either.
You never know, it could be Bear Grylls behind the wheel.
To read the full story in the September 2015 issue of NZ4WD go to Zinio.com (on sale August 17) or purchase your own hard copy at the Adrenalin store.
