$53K starting price for Land Rover Discovery Sport

Land Rover will cast its net wide for customers with its new Discovery Sport, which goes on sale here in May. With a starting price of $53,300 for the manual TD4 turbo-diesel, the mid-size SUV will not only seek to steal sales from BMW's X3 and Audi's Q5 but will also target high-spec versions of mid-size top-sellers from Japanese and Korean brands.

That's the word from Jaguar Land Rover Australia (JLRA) sales and operations head, Matthew Wiesner who expects the Discovery Sport to make "a significant contribution" to the UK off-road brand's local growth in 2015.

Wiesner told motoring.com.au JLRA would look to conquest buyers of $50K-plus examples of Mazda's CX-5 and Hyundai Santa Fe (among other mass market models), as well as target the marque's 'traditional" prestige brand competitors.

Wiesner believes the new Land Rover will not cannibalise sales from the Range Rover Evoque with which it shares basic architecture and drivetrain specifications. He indicated JLRA would target monthly volumes of in excess of 200 units with the newcomer.

The Discovery Sport was unveiled at last September's Paris Motor Show. The first of a bevy of new generation vehicles from Land Rover, its global launch has been underway in Iceland since before Xmas, and motoring.com.au is driving the transverse-engined AWD in the snow-bound island nation this week.

Engines and mechanicals are essentially identical to the stylish Range Rover stablemate, but Discovery Sport's packaging is more family friendly. Seven seat versions, dubbed 5+2 by Land Rover, will be available at extra cost, lending the Discovery Sport additional appeal.

Two turbo-diesel engines and a single turbo-petrol four and three trim levels will be offered in Australia.

The entry level vehicle is the TD4 SE with a six-speed manual gearbox. Standard equipment for Australian SE variants includes keyless entry and start, leather upholstery, auto lights and wipers, power driver and front passenger seats, navigation, power tailgate, 18-inch alloys and a rear camera.

A nine-speed automatic version, likely to command the lion's share of sales, is priced at an additional $2500.

There's a catch in the fine print, however. Only a single non-metallic colour (white) is offered in the choice of 11 paint finishes — this means most Discovery Sport buyers will be shelling out an extra $1300 or $2600 depending on the colour they choose.

The 2.2-litre direct-injected 110kW/400Nm TD4 will also be offered in HSE spec. The step up adds $4600 ($57,900 or $60,400 for the auto variant) and significant equipment add-ons include trim upgrades, xenon headlights, auto high-beam assist, 19-inch alloys and front parking sensors.

The high-output 140kW/420Nm SD4 will, however, offer the most choice to Aussie buyers as it will be available in all three trim grades — SE, HSE and HSE Luxury.

The powered up diesel adds $3200 for a starting price of $56,500 man/$59,000 auto for the SE version. The top of the line HSE Luxury model adds goodies such as Meridian 17-speaker sound system with DAB digital radio and hard-disk satnav, premium Windsor leather surfaces and unique 19-inch alloys, but isn't cheap — $69,000 in auto.

Finally, priced at $59,000, the 177kW/340Nm Si4 2.0-litre four-cylinder arrives Down Under exclusively in SE trim with equipment identical to its SE diesel counterparts.

The auto-only turbo-petrol model is the fastest of the Discovery Sport. Its 0-100km/h time of 8.8sec is 1.5sec quicker than the auto SD4 (10.3sec) and over 3.0sec faster than the rather tardy TD4 (11.7sec). Of course, the turbo-diesels redress the balance in terms of economy. While the Si4 is rated at 8.0L/100km (five-seat version), the auto turbo-diesels are both rated at a frugal 6.1.

Discovery Sport replaces Freelander 2 in Land Rover's line-up and leverages the Discovery nameplate but shares no mechanicals with its big brother. Still Land Rover stresses the vehicle's breadth of capability. No front-drive variants will be offered Down Under.

That fact alone means that Australia will miss out on the most fuel efficient Discovery Sport — the two-wheel drive ED4 set for release in Europe later this year and featuring Jaguar Land Rover's latest Ingenium turbo-diesel four-cylinder as debuted in the Jaguar XE.

Perhaps of more importance to local buyers, our AWD Sports get Land Rover's Terrain Response all-wheel drive program and safety features include autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning, seven interior airbags and a pedestrian airbag on the leading edge of the bonnet. Hill descent control, hill start assist and trailer sway control are also included.

All automatic-equipped Australian Discovery Sports have a maximum braked towing capacity of 2200kg.

Notably, the 5+2 seven-seat option is an extra charge on all variants. Priced at $1990, the two-person third row includes the addition of a sliding function for the 60:40 split second row but does not include aircon vents for the rearmost pews. That facility is offered as an (additional) option priced at $1150. In a warm climate like Australia this should be considered before you sign on the bottom line.

There are many other options and option packs offered across the Discovery Sport line-up. Various wheel options up to 20-inch are offered and the contrasting roof depicted in many of the launch images will cost you $920.

The Disco Sport's L550 platform is a heavily revised version of the Evoque underpinnings, with 50 per cent new parts. The rear suspension is an all-new multilink design which, in addition to facilitating the third-row seating, maximises interior space and luggage room.

The new vehicle is built alongside Evoque at Jaguar Land Rover's Hazelwood factory in the UK.

See more photos from Discovery Sport drive in Iceland

Read the new review of the Discovery Sport