New Discovery on sale in spring 2017

Further details and images have been released of the all-new Land Rover Discovery, which goes on sale from spring 2017 with prices starting at £43,495. The flagship HSE Luxury model will retail from £62,695. What some are referring to as Discovery ‘5’ remains a full-sized, seven-seat 4×4 capable of towing 3.5t, but other than that the new design shares very little with Discovery ‘4’. Indeed, to look at, the new Discovery has much more in common with the smaller Discovery Sport, in essence appearing to be an enlarged version of the ‘entry’ compact Disco launched a couple of years ago. As just one minor example of the extent of the change, the current 4’s trademark split tailgate has now gone, replaced on the 5 by a more conventional one-piece affair. And the new vehicle measures longer than before (by 141mm), as well as being narrower and sitting slightly lower. A key element of the fifth generation, full-sized Discovery design brief was to shed some of its bulk, and this has been achieved through the greater use of aluminium. The end result is that Discovery 5 weighs in at almost 0.5t lighter, which is clearly a significant contributor to the new vehicle’s improved overall fuel economy. That, and the increased choice of Land Rover powerplants: 240hp Ingenium Sd4 four-cyl, 2.0-litre diesel (up to 43.5mpg); 256hp Td6 six-cyl V6 3.0-litre diesel (up to 39.2mpg); and 340hp Si6 V6 3.0-litre petrol (up to 26mpg). A four-cylinder diesel in a Discovery? Now there’s a thing — and not one that will be welcomed by all. Still, at least you can draw comfort from the fact that all the motors do at least drive through a familiar ZF eight-speed auto transmission.  Despite its radical change in appearance, the new Discovery is reckoned to maintain the current vehicle’s ability to perform both on- and off-road. Ground clearance remains impressive (on the 5 it’s 283mm), there’s still a two-speed transfer box and it rides on adjustable air suspension. On top of that there’s an updated Terrain Response, appropriately tagged Terrain Response 2, All-Terrain Progress Control from the Range Rover Evoque, plus a whole host of other whizzo off-road assistants: Hill Descent Control, Gradient Release Control, Electronic Traction Control, Roll Stability Control and Wade Sensing. Is all of that tech limited to fieldwork? Not a bit of it. This vehicle also carries the full complement of on-road refinery. Here we’re talking the likes of adaptive cruise control, Park Assist, Blind Spot Monitor, Intelligent Speed Monitor …. and so it goes on. But arguably the 5’s pièce de résistance amidst all this techno babble is Intelligent Seat Fold, which allows you to alter the second and third row seat configuration either via controls at the rear of the vehicle, on the central touch screen or — yup, you guessed it — remotely by tapping on your smartphone. Useful? Um. Debatable. Clever? Absolutely. The Discovery 5 may well do everything that the 4 does in terms of its core off-road and on-road capabilities, but it does the job in a very different, high tech and modern manner. On the basis of what’s been announced so far, the ‘dated Discovery’ is to set to become the most ridiculous misnomer. This is a vehicle of today. And tomorrow, too. Now we can’t wait for the important bit — to drive the 5 in order to come up with a more meaningful assessment. For the time being, however, you’ll have to make do with the picture gallery below.