Independent Reviews of Land Rover New and Used Cars

The world takes on a different appearance from behind the wheel of a Land Rover Discovery. At the helm, you know you're in a car that can take on just about anything, be that a seven-up trip to the Alps or a relaxing ride home on a wet and slippery winter's night. But it's only when you put it through its paces in properly extreme terrain that the genius in its design becomes fully apparent. How can a car capable of such extremes on the rough stuff be so utterly easy to use on the school run? Only Land Rover knows. The more sophisticated design and clever in-car connectivity improvements of this fifth generation version are welcome but ultimately, the recipe is as before. There's a clever, classless feel about this car that nothing else can quite replicate. Other rival SUVs claim to be tough but at the wheel, you're always a little hesitant to see them prove that. A Discovery's different, a uniquely capable SUV and a British success story that we should be proud of.

Back in 2014, once again, Land Rover looked at a market that many thought was packed to bursting point and spotted a significant gap, into which it parked the Discovery Sport. What other car of this kind can seat seven, set off in the Serengeti and slot right in as easily in Sloane Square as it will in the tightest multi-storey carpark space? No other premium compact SUV from this era can do all this. You'll need to buy carefully though: the build quality and reliability of this car wasn't always what it should have been. Find a good one though and you'll get a great family car. Discovery Sport buyers can get all the style and class of premium 5-seat mid-sized SUVs sold by Audi, BMW, Volvo and Lexus, with the additional versatility of a third seating row, a feature that'll also attract the attention of people who'd previously have had to settle for something Korean like a Hyundai Santa Fe or a Kia Sorento. You get extra off road prowess with a Discovery Sport too, though it's not quite a match for its German rivals if you want to throw your car around on-tarmac. Fortunately, most SUV buyers don't, prioritising instead the kind of supple highway ride and fast fluid responses this car is actually very good at delivering. It all means that for once, the advertising tagline for this model works for the product it's supposed to promote. 'Above and beyond' was the objective in developing this car. In considering the end result, you'd have to say that mission's been accomplished.

Range Rover's Evoque makes a lot of sense in PHEV guise. Jonathan Crouch takes a look.

Land Rover reckons that this Discovery Sport is the most versatile premium compact SUV currently on sale. Jonathan Crouch takes a look at the revised version.

Despite the Defender's 2012 model year refurb, it remained as solid and uncompromising as it had always been, with off road ability to worry a Challenger tank. Approach it as an alternative to modern family 4x4s and you've missed the point. Buy a Discovery for that. Here instead, is the hardest wearing, most capable and most cost effective proper off-roader that sensible money can buy. Equipped with its Euro 5-compatible 2.2-litre diesel engine, this is the go-to choice if you're looking for a used 4x4 from the 2012-2016 period ready for really hard off road work that will keep going when other SUVs have ground to a sorry halt. Arguably, it's still the toughest thing out there.