Here I am, boldly taking the new Discovery Sport where not many Discovery Sports will ever go. I’m at 19 degree North in Aamby Valley, Lonavala at the Land Rover experiential drive. The showcase had us driving across a five kilometre off-road track and though we’ve tested the Discovery Sport before, this one is the higher powered SD4. It is good for 188bhp and 420Nm of torque; 41bhp and 20Nm over the TD4 engine in the lower-specced Discovery Sport that Ouseph tested a couple of months ago.
One thing’s for sure, I think that the new design works. The Discovery Sport looks contemporary and will appeal to a wide bunch of people. The fact remains though, that the lines between the Evoque and the Discovery have blurred and you’d be hard pressed to identify one over the other if you saw one of these on the road, especially from the front. As for within the range, this HSE Luxury gets a contrasting roof colour and nifty 18-inch nine-spoke split wheels to distinguish it from its lesser brethren.
Keeping with the luxury theme, you get all the bells and whistles and then some. The cabin gets classy leather seats, mood lighting, a huge panoramic glass roof and a Meridian surround sound system replete with 17 speakers that should keep audiophiles satiated.
Now we didn’t get a chance to drive it on the road, but it should ride well thanks to the MagneRide adaptive suspension it inherits from the Evoque. It consists of dampers filled with magnetorheological fluid that, based on signals from an ECU, can adjust damper stiffness faster than traditional dampers. It also gets Dynamic Stability control as well as Roll Stability control but we will get to that later.
The 2179cc oil-burner is a refined unit. The engine offers really good performance especially at low revs thanks to the full-fat 420Nm coming at as low as 1750rpm and this extra torque really helps off road. Like the Evoque, the Discovery Sport SD4 also comes with a 9-speed gear box that is quick to upshift but loathes downshifting.
The first plan of the day is to get familiar with the Terrain Response system. It’s a brilliant piece if kit. All you need to do is choose from four driving modes – normal, grass/gravel/snow, mud and ruts, and sand; and the Terrain Response system adjusts the car’s systems to respond accordingly. It adjusts throttle sensitivity, ABS and traction control settings depending on what kind of terrain you are driving over. The first thing I do is adjust the seat height for a better view of things. The 10-way electrically adjustable front seats are highly useful on the off road track as the extra height adjust allows a commanding view of the surroundings. The entry to the track is marked by a steep 100 metre descent. Switch on Hill Descent control, foot off the brake and off we go. As we descend, the system senses available traction and brakes individual wheels. It’s an eerie feeling, having to do nothing as the SUV takes care of itself. The system can also be adjusted for descent speed.
Off-road credentials of the Discovery Sport come in the form of good ground clearance and small overhangs. A 25-degree approach and 35-degree departure angle makes it highly capable as does the 21-degree ramp over angle that ensures you don’t have heartburn. A muddy climb has us switch to grass/gravel/snow on the terrain response system and this works well in low grip conditions and metres torque to the four wheels individually. The throttle responses are also softened for reduced wheelspin and the nine-speed transmission is also at play with a set of well-matched ratios at hand. This translates to the unassuming Discovery Sport scrambling up the loose mud surface with the agility of a mountain goat.
The mud and ruts mode is for uneven surfaces where throttle responses are softened and it also locks the centre differential. It is optimal for crossing streams where you can’t see what’s lying beneath the surface. We did just that without trouble as the 599mm wading depth makes fording small rivers a cakewalk.
So there you have it. The Discovery Sport is mighty capable if you are ever so foolhardy to take it off the beaten path and do not worry about the occasional scratches and scrapes (we did not throughout the test). The SD4 engine also does the SUV more justice than the TD4 in terms of performance and refinement and is worth the `1.5 lakh premium over the TD4 equipped HSE. All in all the `62.2 lakh price tag gets you an all-rounder that is quite capable on road and even more off it.