Photo: S. Baldauf/SB-Medien
Land Rover Discovery 4 is still an excellent vehicle to this day, but the tech level present on board is a bit underwhelming, to say the least. The replacement model is well in its way and promises to change all that.
The concept car shown in 2014 (Discovery Vision) put to sleep most of our curiosities regarding the exterior design, as the actual production version should be pretty similar. After all, the concept looks like a bigger, slightly more elegant Discovery Sport, and that makes perfect sense.
Whether the die-hard fans of the model will like the new aspect of the car remains to be seen, but we’re pretty sure the new Discovery will fare well, gaining new customers and retaining most of the existing ones. They may be upset about the less rugged appearance at first, but it’s hard to argue against what will definitely be a better car in every other aspect. The main thing is the designers appear to have kept that stepped-up roof.
But enough about design, as the Discovery is more than just a big, boxy SUV - it’s also quite a competent off-road vehicle. There are people who fear the new model will compromise on that in order to offer a sportier ride, turning the Land Rover Discovery 5 into a more accessible version of the Range Rover Sport.
Whatever the case, it will still feature the Land Rover proprietary Terrain Response system that changes the vehicle’s parameters depending on the type of surface it’s on, but it might also receive some enhancing features.
For example, there’s talk about a laser system that scans the terrain ahead and sets up the suspension accordingly for best performance or comfort. The car will use the same bonded and riveted aluminum monocoque as the new Range Rover models, which should help bring down the car’s previously colossal weight (Discovery 4 outweighed even the previous Range Rover model).
The new line of Ingenium engines will make their way under the new Disco’s hood, but there will inevitably be a hybrid version as well, using a 2.0-liter engine. The lower weight and more efficient engines will allow for this version to perform decently, offering even a 10-mile electric-only range for those times when the Discovery 5 will need to be stealthy.
The Land Rover range suffered from abysmal infotainment systems, and that problem hasn’t been entirely solved even with the new Range Rovers or the Discovery Sport. Whether the new Discovery will get a newer system or not is still up for debate, but it should come with a laser head-up display that’s said to project a much crisper image on the windscreen.
We’ve also seen the Range Rover Sport being driven remotely via a smartphone app, and the new Discovery 5 promises to be able to do that as well. It’s a system very similar to what the BMW 7 Series is offering, and even though the video showed the car being driven off-road, it will probably be used for parking the Disco in tight spaces.
The concept came with more sci-fi technology such as the “transparent hood,” a feature that projects an image of the road or terrain beneath on the hood, which should make off-roading a piece of cake. That hasn’t been confirmed on the production model yet, but on the other hand, nothing really has, so it’s up to us to decide what sounds too out there and what doesn’t.
The new Land Rover Discovery 5 will be launched next year as a 2017 model, but a clear date hasn’t been set yet. Anyway, since these are the first spyshots of the production version testing, we’re waiting for more of them in the near future. Hopefully, they will also be more revealing.
Whether the die-hard fans of the model will like the new aspect of the car remains to be seen, but we’re pretty sure the new Discovery will fare well, gaining new customers and retaining most of the existing ones. They may be upset about the less rugged appearance at first, but it’s hard to argue against what will definitely be a better car in every other aspect. The main thing is the designers appear to have kept that stepped-up roof.
But enough about design, as the Discovery is more than just a big, boxy SUV - it’s also quite a competent off-road vehicle. There are people who fear the new model will compromise on that in order to offer a sportier ride, turning the Land Rover Discovery 5 into a more accessible version of the Range Rover Sport.
Whatever the case, it will still feature the Land Rover proprietary Terrain Response system that changes the vehicle’s parameters depending on the type of surface it’s on, but it might also receive some enhancing features.
For example, there’s talk about a laser system that scans the terrain ahead and sets up the suspension accordingly for best performance or comfort. The car will use the same bonded and riveted aluminum monocoque as the new Range Rover models, which should help bring down the car’s previously colossal weight (Discovery 4 outweighed even the previous Range Rover model).
The new line of Ingenium engines will make their way under the new Disco’s hood, but there will inevitably be a hybrid version as well, using a 2.0-liter engine. The lower weight and more efficient engines will allow for this version to perform decently, offering even a 10-mile electric-only range for those times when the Discovery 5 will need to be stealthy.
The Land Rover range suffered from abysmal infotainment systems, and that problem hasn’t been entirely solved even with the new Range Rovers or the Discovery Sport. Whether the new Discovery will get a newer system or not is still up for debate, but it should come with a laser head-up display that’s said to project a much crisper image on the windscreen.
We’ve also seen the Range Rover Sport being driven remotely via a smartphone app, and the new Discovery 5 promises to be able to do that as well. It’s a system very similar to what the BMW 7 Series is offering, and even though the video showed the car being driven off-road, it will probably be used for parking the Disco in tight spaces.
The concept came with more sci-fi technology such as the “transparent hood,” a feature that projects an image of the road or terrain beneath on the hood, which should make off-roading a piece of cake. That hasn’t been confirmed on the production model yet, but on the other hand, nothing really has, so it’s up to us to decide what sounds too out there and what doesn’t.
The new Land Rover Discovery 5 will be launched next year as a 2017 model, but a clear date hasn’t been set yet. Anyway, since these are the first spyshots of the production version testing, we’re waiting for more of them in the near future. Hopefully, they will also be more revealing.
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