Land Rover Discovery Review (2017-present)

The Land Rover Discovery is a household name. It’s been around since 1989 and is now in its fifth generation (commonly known as the Land Rover Discovery 5, following previous versions dubbed Discovery 3 and Discovery 4, for instance), which arrived in 2017 and brought a new level of luxury.

Most people who buy a Land Rover Discovery are more concerned with the school run than crossing muddy fields, because those who want a large SUV usually want it to be a family SUV. However, the Discovery still fulfils its ultimate role of being one of the best off-roaders in the world. Select a mode from the standard Terrain Response system, and the Discovery really will traverse a ploughed field, climb a mountain, and ford a river. And what's more, it does so without spilling your Fairtrade coconut latte all over the leather. What's responsible for all that mud-plugging ability? There’s the active four-wheel drive, of course, as well as a low-ratio setting for the standard eight-speed automatic gearbox, a hardy ladder-frame chassis, height-adjustable air suspension and more.

The Discovery models sit in the middle of Land Rover’s line-up, between the company’s entry-level SUV, the Land Rover Discovery Sport, and the even-more hardcore Land Rover Defender off-roader. As such, the Disco is, for many, the perfect halfway house of off-road ability and upmarket family-friendliness.

The Discovery is absolutely huge inside. You won’t find a more spacious seven-seater short of van-based MPVs or more expensive SUVs, such as the Mercedes GLS or the BMW X7. Even adults will be comfortable in the sixth and seventh seats – more so than in a Volvo XC90, an Audi Q7 or a Range Rover Sport – which unfold from the boot floor, while those in the middle row of seats can lounge in splendid luxury.

Even with the rearmost seats upright, you get 258 litres of space, which is enough for a light buggy or a useful amount of shopping. Fold them down and you get 1,137 litres; do the same with the three middle seats and you end up with 2,391 litres of space. In short, it’s massive. The middle row seats are split 60/40 and manually slide, as well as fold, in those same portions. The middle seats recline and fold electrically, but they do so irritatingly slowly - especially if you're waiting to get in out of the rain - and if the slider mechanism isn't completely engaged in the position it needs to be in, you'll be left wondering why on earth the seat isn't doing what it's told.

Then there’s the trademark split tailgate, with a lower section that drops down to create an extended lip flush with the boot floor. It’s perfect to sit on, presumably while you straighten your tweed hunting outfit and get the gundogs ready. On the subject of the tailgate, the Discovery’s off-set number plate is a bit of a controversial point. There are aftermarket conversions to move the plate to the centre of the boot, but you’ve got to really hate the look of it, because such conversions can cost more than £1,000.

There are five Isofix fittings (two are in the third row), eight airbags and automatic emergency braking are standard, and the car has a five-star Euro NCAP crash rating.

Up front, you'll find an upright console that’s unmistakably Land Rover, yet also houses a posh, wide touchscreen as well as logical, rotary climate control switches. On early cars, a rising, rotary gear shifter was the cabin's party trick, but that was later replaced by a more conventional lever selector. It was a shame, too, because that selector is rather annoying. There's a trigger on the back that you must press to engage a gear, and if you forget - which you often do - the shifter moves to the position it should, but the desired gear doesn't engage. It's particularly annoying (and slightly alarming) when you're parking: if you forget to pull the trigger when shifting from Drive to Reverse, you'll jolt forward when you are expecting to go backwards, and in a tight car park - which most are in a car of this size - that can be a big problem.

Whatever the age of your Discovery, the cabin is trimmed with gloss and metal finishes, ambient lighting, and high-quality leather all over the place. So, there’s no mistaking the Discovery’s position as a fully-fledged luxury SUV.

The Discovery is comfortable and easy to drive. In early cars, there were three engines – a four cylinder 2.0-litre petrol or diesel, and a six-cylinder 3.0-litre diesel. The latter is worth going for if you can stretch to it, because it’s not much less efficient than the four-cylinder diesel in normal use, but it makes the Discovery faster and more refined, and also gets a few more advanced off-road features.

A supercharged 3.0-litre six-cylinder petrol model was also available, but in a car this heavy the additional power is unnecessary. The Discovery just isn’t a car that you want to drive quickly; it steers with satisfying fluidity, but there’s lots of body movement and you’re always aware of how big it is. The ride is very comfortable - whether you on a cracked urban street or cruising on the motorway - but this certainly isn’t an SUV that’ll thrill you like a Porsche Cayenne can.

The Discovery underwent a facelift in 2021 and its engines were updated along with the styling. From this point on, there was a single 2.0-litre petrol engine with 296bhp known as the P300, and a 355bhp 3.0-litre straight six called the P360. The two diesel engines became 3.0-litre six-cylinders and known as the D250, with 246bhp, and the D300 with 296bhp. All except the smallest petrol engine got mild-hybrid technology – basically a more powerful 48-volt battery to take some of the load off the engine and make it more efficient.

We've tried, the D300, and it's a really lovely engine that really suits the Discovery's easy-going nature, with a creamy swell of low-end torque that keeps your progress effortless and brisk. It works really nicely with the smooth-shifting automatic gearbox, too.

The 10.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system in early cars was far from the best in the class. It could be fiddly to find the right menu setting, and sometimes the screen was slow to respond. However, the system did have a good satnav, online functionality, twin USB ports and even the option of a ‘dual view’ screen so that the passenger can watch a film from the front seat, while the driver just sees the satnav map. It’s a bit of a gimmick, though, and it cost more than an iPad to add it. Most disappointing is that there was no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, which would have been a welcome addition, because they’d be an easier to use than Land Rover’s own system.

Later cars that followed the Discovery's 2021 facelift, however, did much better on the infotainment front, because those came with Jaguar Land Rover's Pivi Pro system. This system is far easier to navigate, with menus that are way more logically laid out, while the graphics are much crisper, slicker and faster, while the screen is more responsive. As touchscreens go, it's one of the better systems on offer, but that being said, we still prefer infotainment systems that can be controlled with rotary dials, because these are less distracting.

Predictably, the Discovery isn’t cheap, but it is competitively priced against alternatives such as the Volvo XC90 and the Audi Q7, and it’s cheaper than the Mercedes GLS and the BMW X7. From certain perspectives, then, you could argue than the big Landie is good value.

The Discovery isn’t going to be a cheap car to own, either. The diesels are obviously the best for fuel economy, and official figures put them between 30- and 35mpg. The supercharged V6 petrol that was offered at launch will return more like 20-25 mpg, but it’s a rare find on the used market, and will likely lose value very quickly even if you’ve avoided the first initial big hit of depreciation by buying second hand.

Stick with the diesels if you do want to avoid potentially heavy loss of value, since most Discovery buyers are understandably in favour of the better economy and towing suitability of a diesel engine; the fuel type may have had its fair share of bad press, but it often remains the go-to for SUVs of this size. The most basic models of any car never hang onto their value as well as something like a good mid-spec SE, while anything with an HSE badge will be very sought-after.

Servicing is variable depending on what sort of driving you do but expect the service light to ping up on your dash at least every two years and 20,000 miles. Land Rover offers fixed-price servicing that you can spread over monthly costs, which you may want to do, because parts and maintenance are not cheap.

Insurance groups are typically in the 40s, which is high but also much the same as rivals such as the Audi Q7 and the Volvo XC90. In fact, while it seems expensive, most of the Discovery’s costs are in line with what you’d expect to pay for a premium, full-size SUV.

The Land Rover Discovery does not have what you’d call a stellar reputation for reliability. It came last in the luxury SUV category in the 2021 What Car? Reliability Survey which, admittedly, was only eight cars, but the bottom four were Land Rovers and Range Rovers. As a brand, Land Rover came 29th out of the 30 manufacturers surveyed, and it is known for problems with its electronic systems.

At least every new Land Rover gets a three-year, unlimited-mileage warranty with roadside assistance, and you can extend the warranty up to ten years and 100,000 miles.

Even so, there’s no denying that alternatives such as the Audi Q7 and the BMW X5 have better reliability records.