2015 Land Rover Discovery Sport
Combining a refined interior and elegant styling with serious off-road chops, Land Rover's newest offering, the Discovery Sport, is a vehicle tailor made to suit pretty much everything our Canadian conditions can throw at it.
While the majority sold will keep their tires firmly planted on the pavement and never so much as glimpse the back country, make no mistake, this stylish little crossover is a true Land Rover and prepared to get its nose dirty on dirt roads and trails.
In Canada, the Discovery Sport, which replaces the old LR2 as the entry point into the brand, is offered in three trim levels with prices starting at $41,490 for the SE, $46,490 for the HSE and $49,990 for the HSE Luxury which we tested. My tester also included $5,500 in options including a 20-inch alloy wheel package, satellite radio, navigation, retractable cargo cover, heated and cooled front seats and park assist, for a grand total of $55,450 before freight and taxes. (Overall score: 8.1)
Walkaround
When I brought the Land Rover Discovery Sport home, my wife immediately declared that it was "by far" her favourite of the SUVs I had recently tested. This was before she'd even had a chance to sit in it.
To be honest, I can't really blame her. It's a very attractive little crossover and at a glance could easily be mistaken for its stylish, sportier sibling, the Range Rover Evoque, with which it shares a platform. The forward-slanted stance along with the "Fuji White" paint and 20-inch alloy wheel package on my tester made for a clean but purposeful profile.
Family resemblance continues at both front and rear ends where the vehicle's styling is unmistakably Land Rover, and again very reminiscent of the Evoque (great big D-I-S-C-O-V-E-R-Y lettering splashed across the hood makes sure you know that you are, in fact, looking at the Disco Sport).
And while the look and shape are similar, the Discovery has an 80-mm longer wheelbase than the Evoque and is 24 cm longer overall, making for a more functional family vehicle – something that is particularly evident when you get inside. (Score: 8.2)
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Interior
Inside, the Discovery Sport is well-appointed and surprisingly spacious for a compact crossover. In the HSE Luxury trim, any hard plastic surfaces from the base model are covered in leather for a more comfortable and luxurious package.
The tan leather seats and door accents in my tester set against the black of the steering wheel, dash and elsewhere made for a handsome contrast to the satin brushed aluminum finishes and ivory headliner. While the materials may not be as rich as what you might find in, say, a Mercedes, the feel is certainly upscale. And a massive, all-glass panoramic roof is an absolutely gorgeous feature that bests anything the competition has to offer.
Front seats are comfortable, fully adjustable and in my tester came with optional heating and cooling. The dashboard is kept nice and clean with an eight-inch touchscreen set at the top of the centre stack for all your infotainment needs. My one complaint here is that with the sloping dash, the far corners of the touchscreen were difficult to reach while driving.
The Disco Sport's interior really distinguishes itself with its spaciousness. For a vehicle this size, there is plenty of head and shoulder room throughout, and great all around visibility. Jump in the back and the rear seats both recline and slide, meaning that even taller adults have plenty of legroom. With the rear seats pushed back, a larger, rear-facing car seat fits just fine and won't leave the front passenger eating their knees. Speaking of car seats, the child safety anchors are easy to access: something any parent who's ever installed a car seat will appreciate.
Cargo space is also very good, with some 981 litres of space available with the back seats upright – more than enough to fit a stroller and a few bags for a road trip to the cottage. Rear seats can also fold and lock to a nearly flat position, upping your cargo room to 1,887 litres.
While my tester did not have them, the Disco Sport offers optional third row seats for a five-plus-two seating configuration. From all reports, legroom is not so good in those two rearmost seats and your cargo space is reduced to next-to-nothing with them upright, but it's a nice option, and something none of the competition offers. (Score: 8.2)
Tech
The Discovery Sport is home to Land Rover's next-gen touchscreen infotainment system with a display that is well laid-out and simple to navigate. Touchscreen response is also quite snappy, and an improvement over the brand's previous display. It's not the best system around, but it's pretty good.
There are USB and 12-volt plugs literally all over the place, and you can pair two phones via Bluetooth at any given time. The Disco can also be used as a wifi hotspot should you need it.
All levels of Discovery Sport also come with a decent amount of other tech as standard fare, including intelligent stop/start, hill start assist, rain sensing windshield wipers, power adjustable/power folding heated exterior mirrors, and steering wheel controls for audio, Bluetooth and cruise.
At HSE luxury trim you get even more goodies, like passive keyless entry, power tailgate and a nice 11-speaker sound system. However, even at the top trim you still won't find some things you'd expect to come standard in a $50,000 vehicle, like blind spot monitoring and lane departure warning, which are only available as part of the $1,350 driver technology package. (Score: 7.5)
Driving
Powering all Discovery Sport models in Canada (for now at least) is a 2.0-litre, turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine that makes 240 horsepower and 250 pound-feet of torque at 1,800 rpm. I'd label the engine as good, but not great. It's fairly quick and responsive, though it lags a bit in standard drive mode, and is neither as powerful nor as refined as some competitors' powerplants.
The transmission, meanwhile, is excellent. The turbo-four is paired with a super-smooth nine-speed automatic gearbox that hardly ever finds itself searching for the right gear the way some others do. Paddle shifters let you take manual control and can be set to work either in both 'drive' and 'sport' modes or only while in 'sport'.
The Discovery Sport also features an excellent all-wheel-drive system that engages automatically when wheelspin is detected. On pavement, the ride is nice and soft and handling is well-controlled in corners.
Fuel economy is officially rated at 11.9 litres city and 9.0 litres highway, for a combined 10.6 L/100km. During my week of testing, which included a pair of longer highway road trips, I averaged 10.1 L/100km.
And of course, I'd be remiss not to mention the Disco's four-mode (sand, snow, rocks, mud) Terrain Response system. The system adjusts throttle response, traction control and all-wheel-drive system to enhance performance on any surface. Add in 212 millimetres (8.3 inches) of ground clearance, the ability to ford 600 mm of water or climb 45-degree grades, and this vehicle has you covered for pretty much any adventure you can think up, on- or off-road.
Let's be honest: you're probably never going to ford two feet of water, but isn't it cool to know that you could? (Score: 8.5)
Value
With a starting price of $41,490 in Canada, the Discovery Sport undercuts its German competitors like the BMW X3, Audi Q5 and Mercedes GLK by a good margin. This may even be cheap enough to entice non-premium vehicle shoppers to take a look. After all, a fully loaded Honda CR-V or Ford Escape can run close to $40,000, and neither offers anything close to the brand cache of a Land Rover.
Even in the HSE Luxury trim kitted up to $56,000 as my tester was, the Discovery Sport still feels like pretty good value for your money though not as good a deal as the base trim. (Score: 7.9)
Conclusion
Given everything you get in the Discovery Sport and its reasonable price tag, this handsome go-anywhere SUV could easily become Land Rover's most popular model. The Discovery Sport offers true Land Rover chops off-road, with plenty of style and comfort for everyday family driving. It's an ideal vehicle for our all-over-the-map Canadian conditions.
Autofocus.ca is a Canadian automotive website dedicated to making car shopping easier and driving more fun. Follow Autofocus on Facebook and Twitter.
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