Before you buy

The Discovery 1 featured superb off-road performance and good on-road manners, except for excessive body roll at first. Anti-roll bars tamed this from 1992 on some, 1994 on all, losing ultimate axle articulation off-road (regained with the Disco 2). By ʼ91, road testers were beginning to criticise the Tdi for lacklustre performance and poor NVH levels, as well as a stiff gearchange and heavy clutch; the gearbox was soon improved, then replaced in 1994.

From 1993-ʼ97 there was a T16-engined 2-litre Mpi version – a decent road car, but lacking torque for off-road use, so few were sold in the UK. Discos were sold in Japan from 1993-ʼ98 as Honda Crossroads; a few have been imported.

The Tdi is bombproof if well maintained; the Td5 engine in the Disco 2 marked an industry first with an individual, cam-driven fuel pump for each cylinder, giving higher pressures and far less scope for high-pressure leaks, but itʼs a touch prone to head-gasket failure.

Disco 2s were far more complex (and costly to fix), with Active Cornering Enhancement on most using speed-sensitive hydraulics to engage very stiff anti-roll bars at speed – plus self-levelling airbag rear springs, able to lift the rear for serious off-roading and drop it for hitching trailers. Electronic traction control (on the rear axle of Abs-equipped S1s) was now on all four wheels, linked with electronic brake distribution and hill-descent control. There was a Sport mode on the latest ZF auto ʼbox, and Anti-shunt Control on the electronic throttle.