Car Test
|
R0308 | |
|
April 2003 |
||
| Land Rover Discovery | ||
| Printer Friendly Page | Featured model: 2.5 Td5 ES | |
|
It obviously matters not a jot that 90 per cent of 4x4 off-roaders and sport utility vehicles will never venture off tarmac; they’re on an irrevocable roll and none of the major makers dares to be without one of them in its line-up. Owners like sitting high, feeling safe and enjoying at least a sense of the ‘lifestyle’ image that such vehicles seek to project.
Land Rover has, of course, been satisfying these requirements with the Discovery since 1989. It’s growing old gracefully now, but has last year’s mild makeover given the old girl a new lease of life? Well, not as far as the unchanged 2.5-litre turbo-diesel engine is concerned. We like this Td5’s easy-going affability, but its lack of urge below 2000rpm is really frustrating, and it’s only in the narrow 2000-4000 rev band that is gruffly gets its head down to produce some semblance of urgency. It’s at its best on a motorway as, indeed, is the Disco’s general demeanour. The way that the Active Cornering Enhancement keeps the body virtually level when cornering briskly is impressive, however, but although there have been minor mods to the clever self-levelling air suspension and steering, these aren’t significant enough to quell the jostly, shuddery ride on bumpy B-roads. You get a much better ride in the best of the latest MPVs or in an executive estate. All is forgiven, though, when the going gets tough. The ride over rocks and ruts is excellent, while on gooey gradients the low-ratio 'box, traction control and ingenious hill descent control really come into their own. There are no sudden kicks through the steering, either, but on the road, the worm and roller system is too low geared and has a whopping turning circle. That said, the mechanism is precise enough to give reasonable confidence when aiming for narrow country road gaps. High seating makes it quite an effort for shorter and less-agile people to climb aboard, but it does confer that much-loved commanding driving position, aided by the multi-adjustable electric front seats. They’re comfortable, but on the firm side. Annoyingly, though, seatbacks and (removable) head restraints spoil what would be excellent all-round vision. Some of the switches could be better placed, too, while the clutch and gearchange are a bit ‘manly’. Nevertheless, there’s a reassuring feeling of quality about the interior, with (in this case) leather, Alcantara and wood trim lending an up-market aura to things. Narrow rear door openings make entry and egress awkward (and mind that mucky wheelarch!), but once inside, back seat passengers are given lots of headroom and adequate – though not exactly over-generous - kneeroom. The fixed-angle backrests will prove too upright for some, though. Stiff catches release the 60/40 divided back seats that tumble-fold easily to open up a usefully big, cubic cargo area with a flat, carpeted floor. It’s no problem to load over the well-protected bumper, but heavy, side-hinged tailgates like this one aren’t ideal. |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
