Love how these reviewers dismiss the Disco's off road capability by suggesting that no-one will ever actually use it off-road, and then criticise the on-road handling saying its not as sharp as an X5 or Q7. Obviously none of them have ever actually ventured to Fraser Island or on forest trails where genuine off-roading capability is essential. The X5/Q7/XC90 trio are not off-road vehicles, and so for the Disco to even be compared to them is a huge compliment, no-one would ever compare them to a Land Cruiser or Patrol, they're just not in the same class. The Disco however bridges both classes, and that's it's unique capability, just a shame the reviewers don't seem to get that.
John Pitcher i think the main competition is the LX570 from lexus. Just my case, since it part of the Land Cruiser platform with lots of luxury material and feats.
The LX has so much body bling its actually compromised off-road, the Land Cruiser is a much better option, but both cars are barges on-road and can't escape their basic drivetrains with live rear axle and lack of air suspension and ride height variability.
As a big dog owner, I didn't buy the split rear hatch door, it was too high of a jump, this "shelf" seems lower and will protect the bumper on the jump in. That stupid feature is why I'm looking at one. Oh yeah, I also go off-road once a week, and plan to with my next rig so I ain't cross shopping q7/x5/xc90
"Better SUVs in its class"? And then you call X5 and Audi Q7? They are supposed to be Sports UTILITY vehicles mate, how utilitarian is an SUV that can't go off-road? Would love to see how far in the bush you'll get with one of those glorified station wagons.
Acres of plastic, low profile road tyres, shitloads of electronics, no flex at full height due to air suspension. But it can totally crush a set piece off road course featuring some mild inclines and a puddle, so it will fulfil the dreams of the urban commandos who lust after it.
I’m surprised this new downgraded disco doesn’t have a ‘mall crawler mode’ considering this is what 90% of these cars will be doing. Land Rover has a new target market now and they know it. It’s why we haven’t seen a proper 4X4 product offering from them since the oil-leaking defender product line.
App seems useless as I cannot use it when out of reception.. lol.. why don’t you drop that phone into river from top of bridge and say that phone doesn’t work when it is in water.. thank god u don’t review electronics..🤣🤣
When you say flex are you meaning how much can the wheels move? They have 500mm of travel, yes, that's 0.5m of up-down movement at full suspension height, which is pretty amazing for an independent suspension set-up and is pretty close to what you get with a live axle set-up a la Prado and Cruiser, but with way better on-road handling.
The rims are way too big for off-road tyres, the car still is vey unreliable, the rear suspension is independent (not solid axel), way too much electronics, and ... if you overcome all those issues, good luck finding a mechanic in remote locations who can fix it.
How? By looking at the last 20 years of Land Rover badge. Toyota Land Cruisers (200 and 70 Series) are far less complicated and better suited for remote areas.
There are off road tyres available for the Discovery even on those rims. General Tyre's Grabber X3 will fit on a 19" rim. As will Goodyears Wrangler Duratrac's, and I have heard from other guys in the United Kingdom's Green Lane association that the the cooper Discoverer ST Maxx will squeeze onto a 20" rim in its 260/60/20 size. The suspension being independent doesn't matter one bit. Independent suspension did nothing to handicap the previous Discovery. Why would this new model be any different? You Assume this new car is unreliable. That remains to be seen. And as far as remote locations go... this car is clearly not meant for long trips across deserts, its a recreational off roader. Its not meant for overlanding I don't think. Or it would be ill suited to it without major mods.
Think you are overly critical with your review.. E.g app controlled seats... Mate whatever you do and whatever you want to control... The tech we have available today needs to be either hard wired or connected wirelessley... Take both options away there is no way in hell anything will work... Guys at LR r not magicians and I am surprised you are making such a deal out of something that is downright silly and is repeated a few times in your review to the point it is highlighted...also these cars will not end up on the farms at all, especially at how much they cost so let's not even worry about the Bush... Maybe car advise needs some practical advice for reviews?? I can put a rather positive spin on the negative with regards to the options.... It is impossible to build anything that meets every ones needs hence LR along with Audi , BMW et all offer so many options... Which I and you know all too well, are nothing but a ploy to squeeze every penny yet show how affordable the car is as a shell... Keep in mind the buyers of these cars are likes of the rich or ultra rich and they certainly don't live on the farms but are comfy in bondi , coogee, st kilda n tarooks of the world...which has ample mobile reception..
shirokanzaki the Ford Everest doesn’t have self locking or even any locking differentials, let alone a front, mid and rear locking, plus a low transfer mode. Ford May have copied a button look but the two systems similarities end there.
Love the review but hate Land Rover, that rear is so ugly I would change lane when if one is in front of me...also Land Rover's price is so false, the listing price doesn't even come close to what you need cuz basically every function you would expect to be standard is option for Land Rover, that is so unacceptable.
I have an HSE with one option, a DAB radio. I didn't need anything else, it was all standard. So, try ordering an equivalent off-road capable vehicle from a competitor and see how much they include as standard. I think you'll find they don't include an 8 speed auto, or independent 4 wheel air suspension, or height adjustment, or autonomous braking, or leather seats, or Terrain Response, or off-road sat-nav. So LR may charge extra for the things you don't really need, but all the stuff you do is there standard. I'd rather have that choice than pay for bling that I don't want and miss out on fundamental features that aren't there due to dated designs (looking at you Toyota).
If I am not mistaken, HSE is the highest trim level for LandRover isn't it? Thats why you dont need to add anything. I was at LandRover Brisbane the other day enquiry about the new Velar, I try to get the SE or the SE R-dynamic, after I told him what i want (just adptive curise control, contactless tailgate, LED lights, sunroof) all basic stuff you find on an X3, Q5 or XC60, the price increased for like 8000 dollars, for Land Rover, even heated seats are an option...pretty mean for a luxury brand.
The range goes S, SE, HSE, HSE Luxury and First Edition, so HSE sits in the middle and includes everything you need in my view. However, I take your point that the options list is very long and its easy to be tempted into paying serious money for toys. The secret with buying an LR or RR is to take whatever they have in stock rather than spec up something yourself. They'll do a deal on cars that are already in country, but typically not on new orders. You may end up with some options you don't want, as I did with the DAB radio but am so glad I have it now. With the Velar being so new it'll be tough to get any deals but it is the most stunning SUV on the road and is really in a class of its own, certainly compared to any of the Audi's (so bland) or the Volvo (looks nice but no off-road capability). Its also worth considering resale, I'm on my 3rd Disco and got 70% of my purchase price back after 4 years on my previous 2 selling privately on Carsales. You'd be lucky to get 50% back after 4 years with BMW, Audi or Volvo because there's no status driving a 5 year old SUV and if you remove that, what do they have? You can't take them on the beach, or go to Fraser like you can with LR/RR.
YX Yang the hse includes every option you mentioned as standard and it’s a mid range priced discovery. I looked at the Q7/Q8 comparable size priced Audi, Audi required everything you mentioned to be bought in the prestige or top series, adaptive cruise is only available in their top line model. The Volvo XC90 was cheaper because most of the options stated are included in their mid level model, definitely a good buy if you’re not going off road. The Velar is definitely not in the same class as a Q5, that would be the discovery sport or evoke, even than those are more off road capable.
