2022 Land Rover Discovery Sport Reviews, Pricing & Specs
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The Discovery’s legendary off-road capabilities helped solidify Land Rover’s place at the top of the luxury SUV world years ago. Though it’s got way more competition these days, the Discovery remains an ultracapable and stylish premium utility vehicle. Buyers wanting something a little less bulky and expensive have options, too. In 2018, Land Rover released the Discovery Sport, a more approachable and maneuverable SUV with surprising off-road chops, plenty of interior space, and handsome style.
The Disco Sport entered its second generation in 2019, with sleek styling and a shift to a new platform shared with Jaguar. Land Rover’s trim level designations are more confusing than they need to be. The Discovery Sport line is broken into two models: Base and R-Dynamic. Different standard features come for each model, and within them there are two trims: S and SE. No matter which letters are glued to the back, all Discovery Sports are powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine making 246 horsepower and 269 pound-feet of torque. It’s mated to a nine-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive.
Those powertrain specs look modest on paper, and they feel that way in motion, too. Here, the Sport moniker refers to the fact that the SUV is smaller than the traditional Discovery. The Sport maintains a comfortable ride and can handle seriously poor road conditions. The tradeoff comes in handling dynamics. In corners, the Disco Sport feels lazy and not particularly happy to be pushed. The good news is that it can ford up to 23.6 inches of water and tow up to 4,409 pounds when properly equipped.
Even buyers of the base Discovery Sport will find plenty of standard features, especially on the tech front. The S trim gets LED headlights, a power liftgate, 18-inch wheels, dual-zone climate controls, 12-way power-adjustable heated front seats, wireless smartphone charging, traffic sign recognition, and more.
Land Rover’s newest Pivi Pro infotainment interface is smoother and more intuitive than the previous model years’. It runs well on the standard 10-inch touchscreen, and it brings Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Several options are available, including navigation, a head-up display, and two Meridian stereos.
Since it’s a relatively small automaker, Land Rover doesn’t always get its vehicles crash-tested alongside their more mainstream counterparts. That’s not an indication of how safe they are; rather, it reflects the extreme expense of smashing new cars while filming it all in slow motion. Some driver aids are standard, including automatic emergency braking and a 3D surround-view camera, but most are held back for higher trims and options packages. Available features include blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alerts, traffic-sign recognition with adaptive speed limiting, a head-up display, and a camera-based rearview mirror.
