Land Rover Discovery 4 : THE BIG 4

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There aren't too many vehicles that dominate their class in quite such an imperious manner as the Land Rover Discovery 4. Steve Walker reports

There was always something endearing about older Land Rover Discovery models. On virtually any objective calculation, they were way off the pace but the way they managed to triumph over considerable adversity was almost Shackletonesque. Fortunately, recent generations of the Discovery haven't needed to rely on the British admiration for stiff upper lips to do well. The Discovery 3 was designed as new from the ground up and boasted enough technology and design savvy to punt all of its rivals clean off the map. The 4th generation car amounts to a wide-ranging collection of revisions made with the intention of keeping the Disco on top.

The concept of the facelift is a familiar one at Land Rover, the British marque having shown itself to be a master of the mid-life refresh over the years, but is facelift the right term for the Discovery 4? The market is being encouraged to view this Discovery as a completely new fourth generation of Land Rover's family-sized off-roader, hence the Discovery 4 branding, but it uses the same basic mechanicals and design as the Disco 3. The truth is somewhere in the middle with Land Rover engineers having found ways to improve upon virtually every aspect of the vehicle's make-up. Considering they had a class-leading product when they started, that should be enough. The engines dropped into the Discovery have to cope not only with the car's size but with the disparate range of duties for which it's designed. The entry-level unit is the 2.7-litre twin turbo V6 diesel that won critical acclaim in the Discovery 3 for its refinement and smoothness, if not its outright performance. Power is rated at 188bhp and torque of 440Nm is achieved at just 1,900rpm but customers who like a Land Rover with some muscle will want the 3.0-litre TDV6 engine on which the marque is pinning big hopes. Its faith appears to be justified, the 3.0-litre unit is a development of the 2.7-litre engine and makes 242bhp but it's the torque that really makes an impact. The engine develops 500Nm just 500 milliseconds from idle which is just what the Disco wants for towing or clawing its way out of deep mud. Peak torque of 600Nm is achieved at just 2,000rpm and although the engine was developed jointly by Land Rover and Jaguar, it has been heavily modified to cope with the extreme conditions it will experience in a hard-working Discovery.

"The latest Discovery 4 version looks stronger than ever."

Lots of attention has been paid to enhancing the way the Discovery drives on and off the tarmac. A beefed-up anti-roll bar and special suspension knuckles help control the car's body movements through corners while the variable powersteering has been tuned for greater precision at low speeds coupled with a more relaxed feel on the motorway. Always guaranteed to provoke curiosity is Land Rover's patented Terrain Response system. This is virtually akin to having an expert sitting alongside you, helping to get the best out of the vehicle, on or off road. The driver chooses one of five terrain settings via a rotary knob mounted on the centre console. There's a general driving programme plus one for slippery conditions (dubbed `Grass/Gravel/Snow') and three specialist off road modes (`Mud and Ruts', `Sand', `Rock Crawl'). The latest system adds a launch control function designed for deep sand as well as improvements to the Hill Descent Control and the Rock Crawl mode to ensure tricky manoeuvres are made that bit easier. Land Rover's styling treads a classy, predictable path and its customers wouldn't have it any other way. Today's Discovery has more than a hint of the salubrious Range Rover models about its front end with the industrial mesh grille and the big square light clusters which now feature LED technology. There are more LEDs at the rear and redesigned bumpers at both ends, the front one incorporating a wider air intake to help the powerful 3.0-litre engine breathe. The tall shape is typical Land Rover with those instantly recognisable squared-off lines and clean surfaces but the designers have tried to reduce the overbearing look of the car. Some of the detailing, particularly the deep grove along the edge of the clam shell bonnet, serves to create a lower, sleeker effect. The cabin quality has been stepped up at least a couple of notches with improved materials and a simplified control interface. The Terrain Response console now takes pride of place in front of the gear lever and the steering wheel includes controls for numerous functions, reducing the amount of time drivers need to spend with a hand away from the wheel. Technology is everywhere in the latest Discovery, at least it will be if you have the cash for a posh trim level and a trawl through the options list. The various systems are controlled via the centrally-mounted touch screen display and the driver gets a second LCD display mounted in the instrument cluster through which major functions can be accessed via the steering wheel-mounted controls. The Portable Audio Interface allows all manner of MP3 players and USB devices to be connected and there's a DAB radio option for your listening pleasure. The clever front headlights incorporate a High Beam Assist function that activates the full beam headlights when light levels are suitably low. It then detects the lights of oncoming vehicles and dips the beam when necessary to avoid dazzling other drivers. There's a Surround Camera System consisting of five cameras that give a near 360-degree view around the vehicle on the central display screen. This is designed to help with tricky parking manoeuvres, sticky off-road situations or when hitching up a trailer. The system incorporates a dedicated Tow Assist Function which gives a wide angle view of any trailer on the screen and shows its trajectory if the current steering angle is maintained. It's accuracy can be ensured by feeding the trailer's vital statistics into the computer. Land Rover doesn't manufacturer vehicles that are inherently environmentally friendly but the engines in the latest Discovery make the best of a difficult job. The 3.0-litre diesel's more advanced technology helps it eclipse the economy and emissions to the 2.7-litre engine when it's fitted with the automatic gearbox. It returns around 30mpg on the combined cycle and emissions of 244g/km. Land Rover has also incorporated a number of other features into the Discovery designed to improve economy. They're bundled together under the e_Terrain banner and include the Intelligent Power System which recharges the battery only when it's most efficient to do so, an energy-saving air-conditioning pump and numerous aerodynamic improvements. Most big 4x4s make very little sense if you plan to drive them solely on tarmac. Most of the time you'd be better served with a decent full-sized saloon or MPV if you need space and great ride quality. The Land Rover Discovery has been so good it almost warrants recommendation regardless of its ability in the mud but it's when you put it through its paces in properly extreme terrain that the genius - and that's not a word to be used lightly - in its design becomes apparent. The latest Discovery 4 version looks stronger than ever.

Facts At A Glance
CAR: Land Rover Discovery 4
PRICES: £31,995-£47,695 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUPS: 13-14 [est]
CO2 EMISSIONS: [3.0 TDV6] 244g/km
PERFORMANCE: [3.0 TDV6] Max Speed 120mph / 0-60mph 9s [est]
FUEL CONSUMPTION: [3.0 TDV6] (combined) 30.0mpg [est]
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Front, side and curtain airbags, ABS, stability control [est]
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Heightmm 4835/1915/1891 [est]