It wouldn’t be fair to say it was the only thing that’s changed about the 2016 model-year Land Rover Discovery Sport, but the brand-spanking all-new Ingenium diesel engine is kind of a big deal.
Jaguar Land Rover has been muddling along with a 2.2-litre lump that can trace its origins back to ancient Greece, but now it’s all change.
Give up trying to find the visual differences that have been introduced. Of far greater import is the shiny, new, youthful image that the Disco-Sport has swept out from underneath the brilliant but slightly stuffy Discovery.
It’s a family car – up to seven seats – with a little more focus on style rather than utilitarianism, and that’s a good thing
in 2015.
Not that the Sport can’t handle a few rounds in the ring with The Wild, as these pictures prove. I should note that this orange, mud-plugging and decidedly not stuck Land Rover is wearing road tyres. It’s really rather capable.
You can get five-seat versions of the Baby Disco, but that almost wastes the hard work done by the engineers at the rear suspension, which adopts a clever (and expensive) new design that frees up space inside the body without compromising handling or sturdiness.
With all seven seats in place there’s less luggage space than you’ll find in a pair of under-sized swimming trunks, but c’est la vie in a 4.5-metre car. It’s a marvel of packaging, but it’s not
a Tardis.
The Ingenium 2.0-litre diesel brings the quiet – at least relative to the old 2.2. It falls a bit short of the silky Volkswagen Group equivalent in terms of refinement, but where it scores a hit is torque.
A great, fat, 317lb/ft lump of it is delivered first-class when you put your foot down. The Sport is too heavy to feel fast but it’s brisk enough at town speeds, and it rides phenomenally well for the class.
JLR’s collaboration with ZF on the nine-speed gearbox is worth a mention, too. First emulates a low-range gearbox for muck-plugging, but ninth lets it sit at 70mph at well below 2,000rpm, to the benefit of fuel economy.
The shifts are normally so seamless that you don’t even mind it hunting around the ratios on hilly roads.
Things haven’t really changed inside the still-young Landie, with large, practical buttons proving easy to press even with thick gloves on (having tried this in snowy Iceland).
Think about this in terms of what you actually want from a car. If you want a compact seven-seater that can tow medium-weight loads on slippery or rough surfaces, it’s a bargain.
If you just want a five-seater family bus that simply looks like it won’t break at the first sign of a burst water main (regardless of whether it actually will or not), there are worthy, cheaper options.
But remember that the new engine comes with CO2 outputs as low as 129g/km, making the BIK bill £75 a month cheaper for a 40% taxpayer than the 2.2 was. On the whole, this is a big step in the right direction.
Parents in remote locations, those with super-active kids and the lucky devils that have to transport little Jemima’s new pony around in its horse box will all fall head-over-hooves for the Discovery Sport.
It also makes all the right noises as a lifestyle statement, even if the closest thing you have to an actual child is a Pug called Boris.
THE FACTS
Model: Land Rover Discovery Sport 2.0D HSE Luxury
Price: From £43,000
Engine: 2.0-litre turbodiesel producing 177bhp and 317lb/ft of torque
Performance: Top speed 117mph, 0-62mph in 8.4 seconds
Economy: 53.3mpg combined
CO2 rating: 139g/km