• Join-the-queue-for-Discovery-8052436_0
  • Join-the-queue-for-Discovery-8052436_1
  • Join-the-queue-for-Discovery-8052436_2
  • Join-the-queue-for-Discovery-8052436_3
  • Join-the-queue-for-Discovery-8052436_4
  • Join-the-queue-for-Discovery-8052436_5
  • Join-the-queue-for-Discovery-8052436_6
  • Join-the-queue-for-Discovery-8052436_7
  • Join-the-queue-for-Discovery-8052436_8
  • Join-the-queue-for-Discovery-8052436_9
  • Join-the-queue-for-Discovery-8052436_10
  • Join-the-queue-for-Discovery-8052436_11

Spotted the new Discovery? Not yet? Well, you shouldn’t have to wait too long, because, even though UK deliveries only started a few weeks ago, vehicle orders have already topped 5,000. That’s good going, even by Land Rover standards, and means your first glimpse of new Discovery on UK roads ought to be pretty imminent. I spy with my …  Now, what if you want to buy one? Um. Here a little more patience may be required, as you’ll be joining the back of that 5,000-strong queue. Or, in global terms, a 25,000-strong queue — although, to be fair, some of those orders have already been fulfilled. Land Rover is quoting around a five-month delivery time from placing a new order to driving off the forecourt, which possibly isn’t too excessive when compared with the three-month lead time for all other Land Rover products … and for new vehicles from many of the other manufacturers, too. So, why is new Discovery creating such a stir? For a brief run-through of what the new vehicle is all about, refer back to our previous introductory piece — New Discovery on sale in spring 2017; this includes all the main detail. In addition, we now know a little more on pricing. Focusing on the 258hp TD6 V6 diesel, these are the on-the-road UK list figures: S (£43,495), SE (£49,495), HSE (£56,995), HSE Luxury (£62,695) and First Edition (£68,295, limited to 600 units in the UK). Incidentally, it’s the V6 diesel that’s expected to be the best seller in the UK by some margin, even though the firm reckons that, over time, the 240hp 2.0-litre Ingenium four-cyl diesel will increase its share as more drivers of other marques are drawn out of their existing vehicles and into, what Land Rover describes as, a more modern and less intimidating Discovery. Not surprisingly, the only other engine option — a six-cyl, 340hp V6 petrol with a claimed combined consumption of up to 26mpg — is unlikely to feature too heavily in the UK; in comparison, suggested ‘combined’ figures for the four-cyl and six-cyl diesels are 43.5mpg and 39.2mpg, respectively.  Will farmers buy the new Discovery — although perhaps the more pertinent question is ‘why wouldn’t they?’. After all, it still says Land Rover on the bonnet, it still seats seven in comfort, it still tows 3.5t and it will still take you to places that most other vehicles can’t reach. And, on top of that, dynamically it does most things better than the outgoing Discovery 4: it’s lighter (to the tune of 480kg), it’s more economical and, in terms of on-board technology, it represents a quantum leap forward. All of that said, the fresh, sleeker look of new Discovery won’t initially be to all tastes — it’s more ‘bigger Discovery Sport’ than ‘newer Discovery 4’ — and, of course, you’ll have to dig deeper to buy. Then again, the Discovery has been getting progressively more expensive at every update since its launch back in 1989, and at each stage we’ve questioned whether the vehicle was now beyond farming’s reach. Yet farmers have still bought them by the bucket-load … and they continue to do so. Will new Discovery be any different? We doubt it. A full report on life in the new Discovery will appear in an upcoming issue of profi.