Voyage of Discovery

There aren’t too many vehicles that dominate their class in quite such an imperious manner as the Land Rover Discovery. Now the opposition has even more to fret about, courtesy of this allnew fifth generation model

Without the Discovery model line, it’s doubtful whether the Land Rover brand would even exist today. Launched back in 1989, the original version merely bolted more spacious bodywork on to an aging Range Rover chassis, but the sales it generated were enough to save the company.

They also financed a more sophisticated five cylinder air suspended model in 1998 at the same time as the company’s engineers were busily beavering away at something much better – the third generation Discovery3 of 2004 which was ultimately developed into the Discovery4 of 2009.

There’s still something very special about a place behind the wheel of a Discovery. In contrast to more car-like rivals, it’s not a cockpit-like experience with all the controls angled towards you as they would be in, say a Range Rover Sport. No, this is different – a place of command: a place to do business with the elements, be they the snake-infested swamps of the rainy season in the Serengeti or the snarled-up traffic of a wet windy morning on the school run.

This fifth generation version is powered by Jaguar Land Rover’s efficient range of four and six cylinder petrol and diesel engines, all paired with a smooth and responsive ZF eight-speed automatic gearbox.

All variants get impressive towing capability, the diesel variants offering a class-leading 3,500kg braking towing total.

Inside is the Discovery’s customary stadium seating configuration, which sees each row of seats positioned higher than the one in front, ensuring every seat is the best seat in the house. Unlike some of this car’s seven-seat SUV rivals, the third row chairs are designed for adults as well as kids.

As for luggage space, well there’s lots of it – up to 1,137 litres with the first two seating rows in place – or up to 2,406 litres with just the front seats in use.