Land Rover Discovery 4 SDV6 3.0 Review: Roving good times

The Disco’s real ace, though, is its comfort. It’s almost Lexus like in this department, which should give the Japanese something to think about.

It’s a calm environment up there, where the driver and passengers reside. The cabin is well insulated against any sort of wind and road noise; other than the teenie-weenie bit of tyre noise, the only other sound you can hear while driving with the radio off comes from the air-con blowers. Diesel clatter? Nil. Zilch. Zero.

We couldn’t resist taking it for a quick off-road punt somewhere in the western part of our little island; the Disco continues to wow us with its versatile off-roading capabilities. And frankly in this aspect, only the Jeep Grand Cherokee comes close.

Thanks to the unique Terrain Response system, you get to pick from five different settings to suit the different terrains (grass/gravel/snow, sand, mud and ruts, rock crawl). Then when it gets too steep, simply activate the Hill Descent Control and the car will modulate the brakes and throttle until you reach the bottom of the hill. Ahh… Such convenience at the tip of your fingers.

One helluva good reason why you should settle for Land Rover’s Discovery 4 is simply this: it’s practically spacious, freakishly fast for it’s size, fuel efficient (manufacturer’s figure of 8.8L/100km combined), supremely comfortable and with the LTA’s new diesel tax structure makes running costs lower. Wait a second, that’s already more than one good reason (ha… ha…). Simply put, it’s a car with so much talent.

On top of that, at the current $318k price tag, it sounds like a real bargain next to the $350k X5, $380k Q7 petrol and $340k Q7 TDI.

Enough said.

Credits: Story and photos by Azfar Hashim