Topic: Test Drive: 2017 Land Rover Discovery Sport HSE Luxury

[dirtyjeffer]

if i wanted something with some true offroad street cred, Wrangler (especially the new JL coming)...plenty capable, lots of them around so the aftermarket is great (as is parts availability if needed) and relatively attainable (they aren't cheap, but certainly far less than the Gwagon and previous LR products)...i mean, a $40k Jeep is pretty capable and at $50k gets you into Rubicon or custom territory.

[OliverD]

These guys get it. LR have lost the plot.

Hard to say without seeing what the new Defender looks like, and what kind of model lineup it will spawn.

[lebowski]

I agree with John about the whole used LR thing and that is the way I have played the LR3/LR4 game for the past 8 years. When it is time for the LR4 to hit the road I may step up my game and buy a used Range Rover but only a supercharged V8.

DO IT! Coincidentally, I actually spotted one of these babies merging onto the Sea-to-Sky highway last weekend, and it looked so cool.

[ktm525]

If I am not mistaken that is a 2005 Range Rover. I have a set of those wheels for my winters. I didn't realize they used Range Rovers in the G4

[lebowski]

If I am not mistaken that is a 2005 Range Rover. I have a set of those wheels for my winters. I didn't realize they used Range Rovers in the G4

Yeah, Range Rovers are of course super-capable, but it's still surprising they would have used them for such rugged duty instead of the LR3/4. Maybe it was more a marketing gimmick, who knows. Cool just the same!

P.S. I actually can't say for sure if the one I saw on Sunday had the full tubular roof rack/stepladder thing - he/she maybe removed it.

[Dante]

LR started, like many others, making rugged easy to fix vehicles.    Now they make sorta rugged unreliable vehicles.
Some of this is due to decades of government regulation but for sure some of it is that LR management just don't get the reliability thing and I am sure they have, like everybody else, given up on the easy for fix bit.

I'm with you on that. There needs to be more of a connection to the classic LR look. Make the RR's the more modern rounded ones.

 





These guys get it. LR have lost the plot.

Are you sure about that? LR has assembled special teams to build purpose-build variants of their regular vehicles - SVR (sport), SVX (off-road) and Autobiography (luxury).

Why does a vehicle need to be a square box in order to be capable off-road? This one is cool looking and I'm sure it can go everywhere where the Jeep or MB-G can ever go.....

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Just eyeballing it, it doesn't look like it has enough allowance for wheel travel with that fender gap. The approach and departure angles don't look brilliant either.

The worst offence is looking like a warmed over Explorer though. Not everything needs to look like a lozenge.

[dirtyjeffer]

Just eyeballing it, it doesn't look like it has enough allowance for wheel travel with that fender gap. The approach and departure angles don't look brilliant either.

The worst offence is looking like a warmed over Explorer though. Not everything needs to look like a lozenge.

yea, and one of the nice about the Wranglers is you can remove the ends of the front (and possibly rear?) bumpers to allow your wheels to grip the object first (before hitting the bumper)...essentially, it shortens your bumper several inches on each end to help keep it out of the way.

[Fobroader]

Just eyeballing it, it doesn't look like it has enough allowance for wheel travel with that fender gap. The approach and departure angles don't look brilliant either.

The worst offence is looking like a warmed over Explorer though. Not everything needs to look like a lozenge.

Yeah, red trim and slightly aggressive all terrains doth not make an offroader. Again though, the Explorer shouldn't be used as an Example, because its an Explorer, this is a Land Rover Discovery goddamit, it doesn't need to look like a suppository.

Just eyeballing it, it doesn't look like it has enough allowance for wheel travel with that fender gap. The approach and departure angles don't look brilliant either.

The worst offence is looking like a warmed over Explorer though. Not everything needs to look like a lozenge.

yea, and one of the nice about the Wranglers is you can remove the ends of the front (and possibly rear?) bumpers to allow your wheels to grip the object first (before hitting the bumper)...essentially, it shortens your bumper several inches on each end to help keep it out of the way.

Oh, mother nature will self clearance the bumper of the faux roader quite quickly.

[dirtyjeffer]

Oh, mother nature will self clearance the bumper of the faux roader quite quickly.

LOL 

[Dante]

Some entertaining video (more on YouTube) for those blindly discounting the off-road capabilities of that big, fat, luxury blob called Discovery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHHyOcP-1FU&t=247s

Are there any better vehicles out there that combine the same level of luxury and off-road capabilities? Not too many I can think of and not at this extent.

However, the question remains,in general, what's the point of LUXURY + OFF-ROAD?  The first answer that comes to my mind is for rich people leaving in countries with poor/no roads.  Discovery does not make a whole lot of sense in places like North America or Europe IMO... Too much car for groceries getting and soccer practice.

[tortoise]

Are there any better vehicles out there that combine the same level of luxury and off-road capabilities? Not too many I can think of and not at this extent.

Better? Not sure. But a Jeep Grand Cherokee probably comes close.

[dirtyjeffer]

Some entertaining video (more on YouTube) for those blindly discounting the off-road capabilities of that big, fat, luxury blob called Discovery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHHyOcP-1FU&t=247s

Are there any better vehicles out there that combine the same level of luxury and off-road capabilities? Not too many I can think of and not at this extent.

However, the question remains,in general, what's the point of LUXURY + OFF-ROAD?  The first answer that comes to my mind is for rich people leaving in countries with poor/no roads.  Discovery does not make a whole lot of sense in places like North America or Europe IMO... Too much car for groceries getting and soccer practice.

i will see your expensive Disco and raise you one Sorento:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcD-1u47ZRk

 

the only mods were all terrain tires (understandable), a skid plate under the oil pan and disconnecting the sway bar.

[Fobroader]

Some entertaining video (more on YouTube) for those blindly discounting the off-road capabilities of that big, fat, luxury blob called Discovery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHHyOcP-1FU&t=247s

Are there any better vehicles out there that combine the same level of luxury and off-road capabilities? Not too many I can think of and not at this extent.

However, the question remains,in general, what's the point of LUXURY + OFF-ROAD?  The first answer that comes to my mind is for rich people leaving in countries with poor/no roads.  Discovery does not make a whole lot of sense in places like North America or Europe IMO... Too much car for groceries getting and soccer practice.

i will see your expensive Disco and raise you one Sorento:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcD-1u47ZRk

 

the only mods were all terrain tires (understandable), a skid plate under the oil pan and disconnecting the sway bar.

SO the Sorento just out Land Rovered the Buick Discovery....errr....Land Rover Enclave....crap, whatever.

[Gurgie]

Are there any better vehicles out there that combine the same level of luxury and off-road capabilities? Not too many I can think of and not at this extent.

Better? Not sure. But a Jeep Grand Cherokee probably comes close.

Yeah, you get the JGC in the Overland trim & it's pretty loaded & can tackle some gnarly off road situations. Mine has the Summit bumpers, so it's approach & departure angle isn't as good as the regular Overland, but it has the same Quadra-Drive II four wheel drive system.

[Dante]

Some entertaining video (more on YouTube) for those blindly discounting the off-road capabilities of that big, fat, luxury blob called Discovery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHHyOcP-1FU&t=247s

Are there any better vehicles out there that combine the same level of luxury and off-road capabilities? Not too many I can think of and not at this extent.

However, the question remains,in general, what's the point of LUXURY + OFF-ROAD?  The first answer that comes to my mind is for rich people leaving in countries with poor/no roads.  Discovery does not make a whole lot of sense in places like North America or Europe IMO... Too much car for groceries getting and soccer practice.

i will see your expensive Disco and raise you one Sorento:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcD-1u47ZRk

 

the only mods were all terrain tires (understandable), a skid plate under the oil pan and disconnecting the sway bar.

We already established Sorento is the answer to anything automotive. 

[tortoise]

We already established Sorento is the answer to anything automotive. 

*Cough*

I thought I would share my experience with a 2016 Sorento in real winter conditions. Unfortunately it turned out to be an eye opener experience, the kind that makes you change your opinion about a vehicle, enough to remove it from your shopping list.

To put you in context: the temperature dropped from around freezing to -20 deg.C overnight so the snowbank you can see on the left of the Sorento was rock hard. I did not want to try to jump it and ending up perching the Kia on it. Parked behind me was a new RAV4 and behind it a vacant spot that was occupied by something big enough to punch a hole in the snowbank when it left earlier that morning.

I thought I had good luck when the RAV4 driver exited the Hotel a few minutes after me. The gentleman was a tourist from France who did not not what to do to get out. After I explained to him to back up in the spot behind him and go through the opening left by the unknown vehicle he obliged without too much trouble. The RAV4 did better than I expected.

Them came my turn to back up in the spots behind me. I could not do more than 3 ft before getting seriously stuck. It took 3 people walking nearby to help me get unstucked.  A woman had to jump behind the steering wheel and two men helped me pushed my own darn rented SUV. I then had to shoveled the snow behind the Sorento to repeat the RAV4 exercise to get out of there. The Sorento center lock feature was completely useless.

Note that the Sorento was mounted on (4) Firestone Winterforce Minerva EcoStud SUV tires.

I owned (2) Grand Cherokee that would have walked away unchallenged from this situation. I am pretty sure any Ford (even our Fusion has a much better AWD system IMO), Mazda and of course Subaru would have been able to handle this situation. The Sorento is a fine vehicle as long as you consider it as a car with somewhat higher traction and ground clearance than your average family sedan but don't expect it to be a great winter vehicle.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Some entertaining video (more on YouTube) for those blindly discounting the off-road capabilities of that big, fat, luxury blob called Discovery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHHyOcP-1FU&t=247s

Are there any better vehicles out there that combine the same level of luxury and off-road capabilities? Not too many I can think of and not at this extent.

However, the question remains,in general, what's the point of LUXURY + OFF-ROAD?  The first answer that comes to my mind is for rich people leaving in countries with poor/no roads.  Discovery does not make a whole lot of sense in places like North America or Europe IMO... Too much car for groceries getting and soccer practice.

i will see your expensive Disco and raise you one Sorento:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcD-1u47ZRk

 

the only mods were all terrain tires (understandable), a skid plate under the oil pan and disconnecting the sway bar.

Ugh, if you understood the principals of good rock crawling, that video would make you cringe big time.

[Fobroader]

Some entertaining video (more on YouTube) for those blindly discounting the off-road capabilities of that big, fat, luxury blob called Discovery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHHyOcP-1FU&t=247s

Are there any better vehicles out there that combine the same level of luxury and off-road capabilities? Not too many I can think of and not at this extent.

However, the question remains,in general, what's the point of LUXURY + OFF-ROAD?  The first answer that comes to my mind is for rich people leaving in countries with poor/no roads.  Discovery does not make a whole lot of sense in places like North America or Europe IMO... Too much car for groceries getting and soccer practice.

i will see your expensive Disco and raise you one Sorento:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcD-1u47ZRk

 

the only mods were all terrain tires (understandable), a skid plate under the oil pan and disconnecting the sway bar.

Ugh, if you understood the principals of good rock crawling, that video would make you cringe big time.

What, you mean you don't hit obstacles at 50mph?? 

[johngenx]

Used Defenders sell instantly for pretty good sums, Jeep sells basically every Wrangler it can stamp out, and MB sells that ridiculous G-Wagon for a price that raises even rich people's eyebrows.

There seems to be a market for a box on wheels with off-road cred even if it only goes to Costco.