Land Rover Discovery Sport

HELLO

£50,635 OTR/£58,990 as tested/£570pcm

WHY IT’S HERE

To prove LRs are best when they’re more ‘utility’ than ‘sport’

DRIVER

Tom Ford

THIS ONE’S BEEN A LITTLE WHILE COMING: ORIGINALLY DUE TO appear in August, our Top Gear Discovery Sport has finally managed to escape the clutches of the COVID shutdown, along with possibly the longest model designation on the fleet. Yes, the Land Rover Discovery Sport D240 AWD HSE R-Dynamic has landed. And I specced it. Which means that it gets plenty of testable options, the most obvious of which is Firenze Red metallic paint, a contrast black roof and downgraded black 18-inch wheels (standard being 20s – more on that choice later).

I’ve also dropped in – on top of the already rounded HSE spec – a black exterior pack to keep up the contrast-y theme, red brake calipers that come as part of the Dynamic Handling Pack (adaptive dynamics gear), privacy glass (for when I’m acting like a van) and some other odds and sods. Inside, it has the vegan suede cloth seats and titanium mesh trim, a Meridian stereo and every single dog-adapted option available. Good news for my fairly constant companion, Frank.

Just over eight grand’s worth of options wasn’t actually that hard to do, either. But the trade-off is a really very good-looking car, now based on JLR’s PTA platform, and sporting a 240bhp version of the Ingenium four-pot diesel. There’s a nine-speed autobox – still not sure anything needs nine speeds, but we shall see – four-wheel drive, and the usual promise of mud in your unmentionables via Land Rover’s peerless Terrain Response System. It works, and I’ve taken LR products to extremely surprising places because of it. As for first impressions, the Disco arrived and was immediately put to work on Speed Week. Which meant 1,000 miles in its first week, a trip around Anglesey Circuit, mud, rain and being filled to the gunwhales with kit. It coped beautifully, serenely and perfectly. It’s those wheels, I tell you.