Lateral thinking

In response to Steven Mace’s comment

in April 2020’s letters pages, I would suggest it’s all horses for courses. I too was in the market for a seven-seat SUV last summer and drove the same cars mentioned – X5, Q7, XC90, Discovery 5 – and in addition a VW Caravelle DSG 4Motion. Not a lot between them. X5 still the driver’s car, Q7 great and tech with a sense of being built to last, the very cool interior of the XC90, and the tardis qualities of the Caravelle.

However, with four kids (three teens), a boat and a caravan to tow around, we plumped for the Disco 5 TDV6 SE: enough tech, plenty of grunt, the kids voted it as having the best seating and there’s a sprinkle of magic when off the beaten track. The Disco is a little misunderstood; not to be compared with its predecessor or the new Defender, but definitely an equal to the SUVs mentioned above.

It is worthy of the five stars when you load it up with a family of six and hump a caravan around Europe for a month. I forgot to mention I’ve even seen 40+mpg on a normal motorway jaunt! Nearest competitor was the Caravelle; size, space and deal, but it lacked the magic in a muddy field and yes, we’ve tried that out a few times!

Luke Gollings

You’re right about the Discovery being a misunderstood car, Luke. The backlash started with the o set rear numberplate and mushroomed from there, apparently rendering all but invisible a deeply talented go-anywhere SUV with interior space to burn. BM