The first official video of the all-new 2017 Land Rover Discovery has been leaked ahead of its debut, so we have pretty clear picture what to expect from the amazing SUV, which is back after 12 years of hibernation.
The production-ready Discovery shows the all-new quite soft exterior design, which seem to be a bit bigger than before. As we see it, the bodywork is heavily based on the smaller Discovery Sport, except it’s somehow smoother. On the other hand, the interior is ultra-sophisticated, but very simple, which is characteristically to the British car manufacturer. It sports clean and wide horizontal dashboard and vertical center console. Someone would say there’s not enough buttons, yet we say the cab is perfect. There is a 10-inch infotainment touchscreen, a rotary shift controller, and switches for off-road gear, as well as nine USB ports, Intelligent Seat Technology, and up to seven seats. In contrast to the majority of Discovery’s competitors that provide rather poor third row of seating, the new crossover features the adult-sized seats, which are positioned a bit higher, so you can see the road.
The carmaker hasn’t announced yet, but we are sure that the 2017 Discovery 5 features an intelligent four-wheel-drive system, so called Terrain Response 2 that will use lasers to scan the terrain for suspension adjustment. There will be also the All-Terrain Progress Control, which controls and modulates throttle, gear selection and power depending on driving surfaces.
There will be two engine choices for the US drives, so you can get the base 3.0-liter supercharged V-6 that delivers 340 hp and 332 lb-ft of torque. If you want something different, there is a 3.0-liter turbodiesel V-6 with 254 hp and 443 lb-ft of torque. Both engines are paired with eight-speed auto transmission and four-wheel drive. The European model also gets a 2.0-liter Ingenium turbo diesel with 237 horsepower. We don’t have anything official about the fuel economy, but it’s pretty clear that the 2017 Land Rover Discovery must be better from its predecessor. It’s not just because of more efficient engines, but also due the sophisticated technology that improves the economy. Needless to say that the new-generation Discovery weights around a thousand pounds less than the old LR4. Oh, we forgot to mention that the SUV features pretty good towing capacity that exceeds 8,200 pounds.
The all-new Land Rover Discovery will be introduced at the upcoming 2016 Paris Motor Show.
