The 2017 Land Rover Discovery Sport is a fairly early example of Land Rover’s smallest car (not counting the Range Rover Evoque, that is), which was released in 2014. Despite being the marque’s smallest car, it’s still available with seven seats as well as five, and the vast majority of examples you’ll find on the used market will have the extra chairs fitted. Space in the third row is tight, but it’s useful to have them for emergencies. The car rides and handles really well on the road, and it’s really good off-road, too. However, the interior is a little plasticky and functional as 2017 cars were built too early to have benefitted from the 2020 facelift that improved interior quality, and the car’s reliability record is poor.

Strengths:

Comfortable and controlled on the road
Brilliant off-road
Very practical

Weaknesses:

Reliability record is disappointing
Heavy, which dents performance and economy
Slightly disappointing interior in pre-2020 cars

Is the 2017 Land Rover Discovery Sport better than the 2017 BMW X3?

Well, it’s certainly more practical, because it can offer the seven-seat accommodation that the BMW can’t. It’ll go way further than the X3 off-road, too, and although it’s also good on the road, the Discovery Sport can’t match the X3 for driving pleasure. The Discovery Sport also lags behind its German rival for interior quality, but of most concern will be the car’s poor reputation for reliability.