think of the Discovery sport as a scaled-down version of the full-fat Land

Rover Discovery it has many of the same highlights and off-road prowess of its

big brother but costs a lot less to buy in fact it’s currently the cheapest way

to get a brand-new Land Rover on your driveway although the Discovery sport is based on

the Range Rover Evoque it has more of a family-friendly interior and the option

of 7 seats and those are two of the reasons why it’s one of our favorite

Premium SUVs even in the face of stiff competition from the Audi q5 and BMW x3

it’s the Discovery sport just a scaled-down Discovery though or is it a

worthy alternative in this video review will reveal the answer engine choice is

limited to a 2-liter diesel with either 148 brake horsepower or 178 brake

horsepower the less powerful one does feel a little bit sluggish so we’d go

for the beefier one coupled with the 9 speed automatic gearbox for the right

blend of performance and economy the ride is smooth at high speeds and only

jostles you about a bit over broken road surfaces around town mind you that only

applies to the standard 18-inch rims because if you go for the more expensive

20-inch rims right teary eights considerably there’s a fair amount of

roll in the corners making the Discovery sport a less sporty choice than an Audi

q5 or Jaguar F pace that said the Discovery sport holds the road well and

has reassuringly precise steering so you always feel confident and in control

it’s refined too and emits far less clutter than a bmw x3 you will notice a

little bit of road noise on the motorway but it’s only really the Audi q5 that

has a more hushed interior if you plan on venturing away from the tarmac then

rest assured that the Discovery sport is better off-road than just about anything

else in this price bracket people of all shapes and sizes should be able to get

comfortable in the Discovery Sports wide seats and you can use the lid of the

central cubby as an armrest although not if you’re my height because by the time

you’ve put the seat forwards unfortunately the armrest is a little

too far away and if you’re going for a lower spec model make sure you go for

the optional adjustable lumbar support because without it there’s not really

enough lower back support the dashboard has logically placed well marked

switches and the rotary dials are simple and easy to use front visibility is

excellent unfortunately though the large rear pillars do create quite a large

blind spot and this is something to watch out for if you haven’t gone for

the optional extra blind spot monitoring system it’s easy to use the home menu

and jump between functions but the eight-inch touchscreen is a little slow

to respond and some functions such as

programming the sat-nav or changing radio stations a little convoluted if

you go for the in-control touch pro that gets you a 10 inch touchscreen which is

this one here some extra apps and

improved functionality sat-nav is very good but I still find the radio station

a bit of an issue because yes you can click on find and scroll through all of

the list of radio stations but that is a little bit tricky if you’re driving so

you want to do it on the steering wheel and then you can only flick between your

favourites and there’s no rotary dial

like in the BMW x3 so that’s its only downfall though because other than that

I would say it is much better than the 8-inch so if you want to splash out that

the one to go for now the next task is to pair my mobile phone tap to connect

phone okay I’m teasing I have already done it but my phone has forgotten Land

Rover so we’ll start again add new

device and then switch the Bluetooth on and I can see it Land Rover Discovery

sport pair with Rebecca’s phone yes brilliant let’s see how easy it is to

set a destination into the sat-nav ok let’s see if we can put in the home

postcode let’s go somewhere in reading our gt1 I have no idea where that is I

completely just made it up and by the looks of things go start excellent up

front there’s plenty of head and leg room and there’s a deep central cubby

box with USB port making it an ideal place to store your mobile phone and healthy snacks

providing you slide the second round seats as far back as they go there’s

plenty of room for adults in here and

the rear most pair of seats is slightlytricky to get to and when here there’s not an awful lot

of room so you want to be a small child because an adult traveling in the seats

will be quite uncomfortable and when

they’re not in use you simply fold them into the floor like so virtually with

one hand and same to pick them up but I’m going to fold them down and show you

how much space there is because the

Discovery sport in five seater guys has one of the biggest boots in its class

and it comes with a power tailgate a standard on all but the cheapest SE trim

compared to its German rivals the Discovery sport is competitively priced

especially when you consider it’s difficult to get a car this size with

seven seats if you’re less bad conscious you can go for a larger seven seater

such as a Kia Sorento or Hyundai Santa Fe and against these mainstream rivals

it does look quite pricey in the Land Rover’s defense though it will hold on

to its residual values a lot better than these you don’t have to splash out to

get a decent level of equipment either because standard kit across all Discovery sport includes part leather upholstery heated seats and reversing camera that said we reckon HSC trim is

the best value because it gives you electric leather seats a reversing

camera and xenon headlights you shouldn’t think of the Discovery sport as an entry level Land Rover it’s a cleverly packaged.