Land Rover Discovery Sport
Our verdict
The Discovery Sport might be getting on a bit, but there's still plenty to recommend it. It's attractive, spacious inside, comfortable, and has all the technology you'd expect in a car of this price.
Good bits
- Spacious and clever interior
- Up-to-date tech and infotainment
- Great off-road
Bad bits
- Can be wallowy to drive
- PHEV has compromises
- No physical controls for climate
Price
£44k - £57k
Made in
UK
Engines
Petrol, Diesel, PHEV
Tell me about it
The Discovery Sport is the Land Rover everyone seems to forget about. Not as enormous as the full-size Discovery or Defender, and not as flashy as any of its Range Rover-badged siblings, the Discovery Sport seems to just sit back and get on with the job at hand.
That job is, of course, carrying families and their clobber all around the UK: be it on school runs, holidays, or trips to the tip.
But is the relatively compact Discovery Sport up to the job? Is it still an appealing package, despite the lack of a Range Rover badge on the bonnet?
You’re looking at it – the Discovery Sport replaced the Freelander in 2015. It’s a bit bigger than the car it replaced, but fills the same gap in the market.
There are loads.
Land Rover makes the Discovery Sport at its Halewood plant, near Liverpool in the UK. Its engines, meanwhile, are made at Jaguar Land Rover’s powertrain factory near Wolverhampton.
Exterior
It’s strange to think that the Discovery Sport is now approaching 10 years old, with very little changes to its design over that time.
Despite this, it’s still a handsome car: well-proportioned, and relatively svelte despite its capacious interior. Compared to the rather lumpen full-size Discovery, the Discovery Sport looks – we think – rather good.
Land Rover gives plenty of choice when it comes to styling the outside of the Discovery Sport, too. There’s nine colour choices – though most of them are shades of grey – and a plethora of alloy wheel designs in differing sizes.
It’s also smaller than it looks: marginally shorter than a Nissan X-Trail or Mercedes GLB, meaning parking shouldn’t be difficult.
Interior
It’s inside where the Discovery Sport is starting to wear its age a little less gracefully. A comprehensive ‘facelift’ in 2019 came with some pretty significant upgrades, including a steering wheel borrowed from the Range Rover Evoque, but some areas don’t feel as modern – or premium – as you might expect.
There’s not actually much to find fault with after Land Rover’s various nips and tucks, but interior plastics can feel a bit utilitarian in places, and the strange placement of the electric window switches high up on the door is a pure throwback to Land Rover’s older models.
There is at least the distraction of some nice woven fabric spread across the dash and doors, though, and everything (generally) feels reassuringly solid to the touch.
It’s also incredibly easy to get comfortable in the Discovery Sport. Seats are incredibly plush – with almost too much support, in fact – and you get a driving position higher than in most other cars of this type.
Yes. Despite its relatively compact dimensions, the Discovery Sport is Tardis-like on the inside. It has an enormous boot, and all passengers get plenty of room to stretch out.
The Discovery Sport has the option of seven seats: you’ll need to hand over nearly £1,500 for the privilege, and aren’t available on plug-in hybrid models. They’re not the most roomy, but are perfectly suitable for children, or medium-sized adults at a pinch.
Yes: both rear rows of seats (where fitted) fold almost totally flat, meaning it’s easy to slide bulkier objects like flat-pack furniture into the boot.
Technology and Equipment
The Discovery Sport is absolutely loaded with technology – albeit not always as standard.
All trim levels get a flashy touch screen, which now controls everything from infotainment to climate control settings. It’s shared with other cars in the Land Rover lineup, and is well-designed and responsive to use.
Leather seats are standard on entry-level ‘S’ cars, while further up the range they’re substituted for some posh-feeling – but synthetic – ‘Suedecloth’, as Land Rover attempts to both lower its carbon footprint and appeal to animal lovers.
Heated, electrically-adjustable front seats are included on every Discovery Sport, as are front and rear parking sensors and a reversing camera. A wireless phone charging pad is bundled in too, along with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Passengers will quickly make use of the plethora of USB charging points too – one per passenger in five-seat models.
Posher trim levels get some tasty upgrades: a powered tailgate, panoramic roof, keyless entry and more, but it’s in the options list where things really get interesting.
Mood lighting, a head-up display, 3D surround camera and even an air purification system are all on offer, along with a clever rear view mirror that can be switched to a live camera feed if your vision is obscured by passengers or luggage.
Yes – but go for the optional 14-speaker Meridian system if you’re serious about your sound. A second, cheaper Meridian system with 11 speakers is also worth a look, and comes as standard on ‘SE’ models upwards, or is an option on entry-level ‘S’ cars.
No – not since its 2023 facelift, where they became integrated to the infotainment touch screen. Older Discovery Sports had physical dials for adjusting cabin temperature.
Safety and security
The Discovery Sport has a five-star EuroNCAP safety rating, having undergone a crash test in 2022.
There’s plenty of safety kit bundled in, though it misses out on things like centre or side pelvis airbags, which many of the Discovery Sport’s rivals now feature.
Security is something Land Rover has worked hard to improve for the latest Discovery Sport. Previous models – along with various Range Rovers – seemed to be susceptible to thieves targeting its keyless entry system.
Since then, the Discovery Sport has been given an upgraded security system – including a built-in tracker, helping police locate the car in the even that it’s stolen.
That rather depends on the age of the car: the latest Land Rover Discovery Sport models have an upgraded security system, but older models have been outlined as at risk for thefts.
Entry-level ‘S’ models don’t have keyless entry, requiring a button on the keyfob to be pressed to unlock the car. They do still have keyless start, however.
Engines and performance
There’s three engines on offer: a 2.0-litre diesel, a 2.0-litre petrol, and a plug-in hybrid that combines an electric motor with 1.5-litre petrol.
All are well-suited to the Discovery Sport, so choosing between them simply comes down to which better fits your lifestyle.
The ‘P300e’ plug-in hybrid is the most appealing if you’re a company car driver, with a claimed 181mpg meaning a low tax bill. It’s the most powerful of all the engine options too, with 305bhp on tap, and can (allegedly) travel 37 miles on electricity alone.
It’s also the most expensive, though: some £4,000 more to buy than the ‘D200’ diesel engine. What’s more, it’s not very good at operating on electricity alone.
It can drive up to 70mph on battery power, but switching on the heating or air conditioning means the petrol engine also comes to life. If you were hoping to make regular, short journeys using electricity alone, that’s worth bearing in mind.
A ‘P250’ petrol engine is also on offer, but only on top-spec ‘HSE’ models. With 245bhp it’s not as powerful as the plug-in hybrid version, and it likes a drink: officially managing just 30mpg on the combined cycle.
Land Rover gives an official range of 37 miles, but in our tests it managed just under 30 miles. It also forces the petrol engine into life if you activate the heating or air conditioning – not ideal for short, in-town journeys.
Ride and handling
The Discovery Sport is one of the few cars of this type that isn’t pretending to be a sports car – and that’s no bad thing.
It’s more softly sprung than something like a BMW X3 or Audi Q5, so while it rolls a bit more in corners, ride comfort is pretty good.
That does change based on the model you choose, though. Plug-in hybrid versions, with the extra weight of a sizeable battery, isn’t quite so well behaved on undulating bits of tarmac.
If comfort over style is your primary concern, try not to be tempted into the larger alloy wheel options either, which make the ride considerably choppier.
There’s also the option of adaptive dampers, which give you a little more control over firm the Discovery Sport rides. It’s only available as part of a near-£1,000 option pack, however.
Absolutely – perhaps more so than any of its rivals. All Discovery Sports are four-wheel-drive, and come with Land Rover’s Terrain Response 2 systems for off-road driving. Even its standard-fit tyres are suitable for light off-roading.
Should I buy a Land Rover Discovery Sport?
The Discovery Sport might be getting on a bit, but there’s still plenty to recommend it. It’s attractive, spacious inside, comfortable, and has all the technology you’d expect in a car of this price.
If off-road ability is important to you, it’s also the most capable car of its size and type. Standard four-wheel-drive, high ground clearance and Land Rover’s clever technology means it beats rivals like the Mercedes GLC when things get slippery.
However, it’s not as fun to drive as rivals like the BMW X3, and nor are its engines as refined or tuneful as the best that Germany can produce.