New Discovery: prices and specs 29 | 09 | 2016

LAND ROVER HAS officially unveiled its all-new Discovery which will enter Scottish dealerships next Spring with prices starting at under £43,500. The new car will be British-built at JLR’s facility at Solihull in the West Midlands.

The new model, which gets a more sophisticated, softer-edged look that moves it away from the blunt styling which dominated its first 26 years.

Land Rover believes the new Discovery — which benefits from a new platform and revised engines, including, for the first time, a four-cylinder diesel — a new level of comfort and fuel efficiency for the Land Rover Discovery badge.

Remember: this is a Land Rover, not a Range Rover.

Boasting a towing capacity of 3500kg, the new Discovery will still be able to haul horse boxes for the country set, while its dimensions — it’s 4970mm long (around 14cm longer the its predecessor) and 1846mm tall, 66mm lower than the current model — belie the fact it’s also 480kg lighter.

Switching to aluminium construction allowed Land Rover to add additional safety kit, plusher materials and greater soundproofing. The car also gets Jaguar Land Rover’s Ingenium 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel for the first time.

Sporting an SD4 badge and mated to a ZF eight-speed automatic gearbox, the 2.0 diesel will deliver 237bhp and 500Nm of torque, resulting in a 0-60mph time of 8.0 seconds. It will though also return 43.5mpg at the pumps, and emit 171g/km of CO2, making it considerably cleaner than any previous Discovery.

That said, it’s not as green as rivals such as Audi’s V6 TDI Q7 and D5 versions of the Volvo XC90.

The UK range will also include a pair of 3.0-litre V6s - a diesel called TD6, with 255bhp/600Nm, and a supercharged Si6 petrol with 335bhp and 450Nm.

While the larger diesel hist 60mph from standstill in 7.7s, returns 39.2mpg and emits 189g/km CO2, the petrol — which isn’t likely to sell well in the UK — returns only 26.0mpg and 256g/km of CO2, while covering 0-60mph in 6.9s.

All versions of the new Discovery get a two-speed transfer box as standard, allowing low-range gears for tricky off-road manoeuvres. Land Rover’s All-Terrain Progress Control tech is also standard; first seen on the Evoque, it allows the driver to set a crawl speed of up to 19mph and focus on steering while the vehicle controls braking and throttle functions.

Ground clearance has also been improved, now up to 283mm. The while the approach angle is up to 34 degrees and the departure angle is 30 degrees, the car can also cope with a wading depth of up to 900mm.

The UK model will be sold as a seven-seater. with the third row of seats in place the storage is 258 litres. That increases to 1137 litres with only two rows in place; and with the third, fourth and fifth seats  folded down, it becomes a cavernous 2406 litres.

Rather controversially, the Discovery’s iconic split tailgate has been dropped, to be replaced by a conventional one-piece hatchback. Land Rover hopes to satisfy the needs of buyers who like to sit on the bootlid with the Powered Inner Tailgate, a 285mm section that flips out from under the floor and is capable of supporting up to 300kg.

Inside the cabin, the fascia is dominated by the new infotainment screen, which can be as large as 10 inches if the InControl Touch Pro system is specified. It incorporates a 4G WiFi hotspot for up to eight devices, and there are up to nine USB ports on board, along with four 12V charging points.

As far as prices and specs are concerned, it remains very close to the previous model range.

The entry-level £43,495 S trim, available with the SD4 engine only, gets cruise control, air suspension, heated windscreen and door mirrors, and a powered tailgate. Step up to the £49,495 SE and you get leather seats, heated front seats, auto headlights, satellite navigation, front and rear parking sensors, LED headlights and interior mood lighting.

There’s also HSE and HSE Luxury trims, with the £56,995 HSE adding 20in alloys, higher-grade leather, JLR’s InControl Touch Pro infotainment system, a panoramic roof, heated rear seats and a gesture-controlled tailgate.

The range-topping £62,695 HSE Luxury gets even more leather in the cabin, 21in alloys, electric sunroof and rear panoramic roof, and rear-seat entertainment. SE, HSE and HSE Luxury are all available with either the SD4, TD6 or Si6 engines.

Related: Official 2017 Discovery images leaked

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Jim McGill