03:28PM - 27.01.'15
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News Source: autoblog.com
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The SUV category transitioned from glorified agricultural equipment into slick mall trawlers in the blink of an evolutionary eye. But in the genre's speedy civilization process, something was left on the table – the promise of those all-conquering Marlboro Man antics that first tempted so many motorists out of their station wagons and MPVs. Despite utility vehicles being more popular than ever, that sort of do-anything capability is largely the stuff of fiction these days. The only uncharted thresholds modern CUVs cross are new coffee shop parking lots and unfinished McMansion developments. At first blush, this latest entry from Land Rover would appear to be no different – the 2015 Discovery Sport wears the same rounded features, oversized 19-inch wheels and safety-first backup cameras typical of its peers. Those shovels and rakes and implements of destruction that farmers once bolted to the sides of their Land Rover Series Ones? Long gone, pal. When it was first revealed, the 2015 Discovery Sport was unsurprisingly and uncharitably labeled a "soft-roader" by much of the automotive media and Autoblog commentariat, a quasi-epithet shared with many premium pavement pounders like the Audi Q5, BMW X3, Mercedes-Benz GLK and Volvo XC60. That descriptor suggested the Disco Sport was yellow of belly, willing to risk the Green Oval's peerless off-road credentials in its chase for the suburban dollar. Perhaps in order to divorce us of that notion, Land Rover invited us to Iceland in the dead of winter to test their new baby's mettle. On paper, the Discovery Sport is the replacement for the LR2/Freelander, the new entry-level offering in Land Rover showrooms. Thing is, it's a vastly different vehicle in both appearance and execution, and it appears to be all the better for it. We say "appears" because while we pushed our tester through all manner of off-road gymnastics and foreboding conditions, it will take a full road drive on unfrozen roads, freeways and around-town treks to see if the Disco Sport is as adept at family hauling and commuting as it is at getting dirty. At first blush, though, the new Discovery Sport is a tremendously capable little utility that further blurs the already muddy lines between traditional SUVs and crossovers. "Little" deserves an asterisk nuzzled up against it. Despite being some two inches shorter than the Audi Q5 (arguably its chief rival), the Discovery Sport is a tremendously efficient bit of packaging. It's not just more accommodating in terms of seating and cargo room for five; it also offers an optional (very) occasional-use third row, a novelty in this class. The second row slides, and with the rear seats folded, the cargo hold can swallow up to 60 cubic feet of stuff, which is more than rivals. It does all this, somehow, while avoiding any unfortunate effect on its off-road abilities or looking like a two-box minivan. Stylistically, the DS borrows much from Land Rover's Evoque design canon, including the latter's big-chin bumpers, clamshell hood and pinned-back headlamp eyes, along with a conspicuous bone-line along its flanks that rises toward the rear end. It lacks the fashion-forward Evoque's prominent balloon fenders and the same intense rake to its roofline, but the end result is a design that wisely trades away some aesthetic drama and uniqueness in exchange for more pedestrian concerns like outward visibility and headroom. The Discovery Sport also borrows a great deal from the Evoque under its aluminum skin, including its front suspension and much of its floorpan. Even its engine is the same: a turbocharged, Ford-sourced 2.0-liter four-cylinder that distributes 240 horsepower and 251 pound-feet of torque (available from a mere 1,750 rpm) through a ZF nine-speed automatic. We had our concerns about the powertrain package – particularly the transmission. We've found the latter to be both less decisive and less inspiring in other applications, especially our long-term Jeep Cherokee. Yet there was no gear hunting observed during our two days testing the Discovery Sport, though we did notice the transmission was often slow to kick down when booting the throttle, and the paddle shifters didn't help much. Admittedly, we didn't get the chance to try sustained cruising at highway speeds to see if it has a tendency to dither between ratios like our Jeep, but for our purposes on this drive, it was a perfectly agreeable partner. The transmission is also undoubtedly one of the chief reasons the Discovery Sport has nabbed solid fuel economy ratings of 21 miles per gallon city and 28 highway. Due to the widely varying weather and road conditions inherent to Icelandic life in January, an opportunity for impromptu acceleration testing didn't present itself. A factory-estimated 0-60 time of 7.8 seconds suggests that the LR leaves a few tenths of a second on the table versus its chief four-cylinder rivals, some of which offer even more powerful engine options. However, in our testing, the Land Rover never felt out of breath and was aided by the smartly programmed transmission and the 2.0T's low torque peak. Having said that, we suspect that Land Rover will shortly replace the EcoBoost-derived powerplant with its own new Ingenium line of engines. We already know that a diesel option is in the near-term cards, but we'd also like to see a more powerful engine option to keep pace with the competition's up-engined models. When we were informed that our convoy was outfitted with studded tires, some of our colleagues initially groused that such specialized footwear amounted to cheating. But we soon got out on the drive route and discovered that a few steep glacial descents and lava field crossings were so icy that they were impossible to even stand on. Snow tires are legally required in Iceland at this time of year, and even the best unstudded winter rubber could've easily seen at least one or two colleagues slide off into the abyss on our route. As it was, we were pleasantly surprised not only with the faithful grip of our Pirellis, but also with their surprisingly minimal sound intrusion. Even the effort buildup and on-center feel from the electric power steering setup wasn't bad with these tires. |
