Land Rover Discovery Sport 2015 Review

Not only is it a stylish, modern-looking vehicle – neither of which held true of the Freelander we compared against the Jeep Cherokee about 12 months ago – the Disco Sport is heavier in the steering, it's more composed on the road, and it's a seven-seater. This is not just a car that has slowly morphed out of the Freelander in its current form. The Disco Sport is a step change on many levels.

But not the engine.

The diesel in this, our long-term test vehicle, is carried over from the Freelander 2 – even down to the power and torque figures. It means that the Disco Sport produces strong performance but turbo lag is an issue, as is NVH.

Despite that, it's not as rough as the Range Rover Evoque recently tested with the same engine. Put that down to better NVH suppression in the newer Disco Sport.

The engine was still audible though, and the turbo howled as its revs dropped on the overrun. There was some constant driveline rumbling at open-road speeds, but NVH in the cabin was equal parts driveline, wind and road noise on the freeway. At lower speeds there was some tyre noise penetrating as well.

The engine in the Disco Sport pulled very strongly from 3000rpm, where power and torque appear to cross paths. The transmission would change up to the next gear at the redline, even in Sport mode, with the driver using the shift paddles. There's a decent level of power right through the rev range from that 3000rpm tipping point, but the turbo was often slow to spool up below that point. This was never more apparent than when I pulled out in front of a fast-moving Mazda3 that materialised from behind a badly-parked HiAce on my right.

Fuel consumption rose from 8.0 to 8.2L/100km over the week – and that was despite a fair amount of open-road driving factored in. Nevertheless, that's a decent number for a seven-seat SUV.

Still, the same advice applies for the Disco Sport as for the Evoque... consider waiting for the Ingenium engine family to arrive here next year. We have our collective fingers crossed that the new engine family will lift the bar for diesel driveability in Land Rover's smaller SUVs.

The ZF nine-speed transmission was – wait for it – a disappointment. At the typical open-road speed limit (100km/h) the transmission won't even drop into ninth gear. If you select it manually at that speed the engine is ticking over at 1400rpm, and copes with that. In fact the four-pot diesel is reasonably settled at that speed. Most of the time, however, the engine is sitting on 1800rpm in eighth gear when the transmission is left in Drive.

But it wasn't just the superfluous ninth gear that was a bugbear. The transmission was also clunky on occasions, and didn't always select a gear immediately. In the process of backing across the road into the driveway, the Disco didn't engage reverse right away, and the vehicle rolled forward, headed for the gutter on the far side of the road before the transmission found Reverse. That happened a few times.

There was one occasion in particular it wouldn't re-engage Drive for several seconds. I had changed to Neutral while waiting for passengers to disembark. The auto-stop system killed the engine, which restarted as soon as I selected Drive once more, but then the transmission remained in Neutral, only shifting into Drive with quite a thump after I revved up the engine. I'm happy to put that down to a glitch, but wouldn't want it happening at a set of lights with traffic banked up behind.

Pulled over by the side of a country road at night to investigate a rattle from the rear of the cabin, I selected Neutral and actuated the electronic park brake. The car auto-stopped and then wouldn't restart after I attempted to select Drive. It began to progressively shut down, and I had to press the start/stop button on the dash twice before it would restart.

All in all, the Disco Sport's drivetrain seems like an amalgam of rough edges and sharp corners in need of some polishing.

But the Land Rover redeems itself with its dynamics.

Hurl the Discovery Sport at a corner on a trailing throttle and it's pretty poised. It holds the road very well indeed and will give many passenger cars a run for their money in corners. As it approaches its limits of adhesion, the Discovery Sport provides plenty of warning. So it delivers safe handling, but it's also a bit more enjoyable to drive than most comparable SUVs.

Set it up properly ahead of the corner and it turns in well for an SUV of its size. The steering is heavy around town however, and lacks self-centring, but it provides better feedback at touring speeds than most SUVs of similar ilk.

Ride comfort was undeniably better than the Evoque's, but it's not as supple as other (bigger) Land Rover models. Nevertheless, the Disco Sport's ride quality is fine, when balanced against the car's tenacious grip. Of course, the (optional) larger diameter wheels may have been a factor in both ride and roadholding. It's entirely possible that a vehicle on the standard wheel and tyre combination might ride better, but at the expense of some adhesion in corners.

Off the road, the Discovery Sport proved itself significantly more capable than the Evoque. It climbed one rock-faced surface that has been too challenging for other smaller SUVs driven in the past. And other grades were more or less shrugged off, whatever the Terrain Command setting. The Evoque couldn't make it up this particular track in 'Sand' mode. But the Discovery Sport was able to make the climb in all three off-road modes tried.

The Discovery Sport grazed its underside briefly, but generally the Land Rover's approach and departure angles were very good and wheel articulation was more in keeping with heavier-duty off-roaders, rather than cross-over-style SUVs. It kept all four wheels on the turf other than one occasion, when it pushed on uphill with the right rear wheel cocked high in the air.

Hill Descent Control remains a concern in this vehicle however. Like the Evoque's and the Freelander's, it doesn't regulate speed as well as Jeep's system in the Cherokee.

Inside, the Disco Sport is right at the lower limit of packaging for a seven-seater. In the third-row seat, headroom is inadequate for adults of even average height. By adjusting the second-row seating forward, there's almost enough knee room in the third row for adults, but it's ultimately best left for kids.

Reaching the third row is not especially easy either. The two-seat bench in the second row is on the passenger side, so the single-seat unit is on the driver's side. Normally it's the single-seat unit that is the preferred method of entry to the rear seat, but it's on the 'unsafe' road side when the car is parallel parked. The kids can climb in on the footpath side, but it requires a bit of muscle to pull the squab forward and then slide the base as well. It's tight squeezing in past the second-row seating, whichever side is used.

There is abundant accommodation in the second-row seat, which is a 60/40 split-fold unit that slides forward and back. The floor is carpeted, but with rubber mats for those occasions the whole family does actually head off-road. Second-row seat occupants receive warming and cooling air via face-level vents in the B pillars.

While dropping off passengers, the tailgate cannot be opened from outside the vehicle if the engine is running (or auto-stopped) and the transmission is not in Park. There's a button on the dash to open the (powered) tailgate from the driver's seat, which will lift the tailgate, even with engine running and in gear.

The driver's seat wasn't to my liking. I personally found it flat, lacking shape and somewhat unsupportive. Materials were of a quality standard, but were durable rather than especially attractive. Instruments and controls were easy to use, but the indicators were very quiet and hard to hear at times.

After a week in the Discovery Sport, I felt slightly conflicted. The small Land Rover has all the makings of a very fine offering, it just needs that new engine and some tweaking of the auto transmission.

2015 Land Rover Discovery Sport SD4 SE pricing and specifications:
Price: $59,000 ($68,206 as-tested, plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 140kW/420Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel: 6.3L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 161g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star (ANCAP)