The metal bar hanging down from the ceiling of a car park entrance, with its distinctive red and white chevrons tends to tell you the maximum height of vehicle that can fit in. This was certainly the case with the Mall car park in Reading. The problem of course, is that in order to know if you can fit under a 1.93 m high barrier, you need to know the height of your Land Rover Discovery.
I didn’t know, and I was late for a meeting. So I crept up to the barrier, got out, and seeing a slither of daylight between roof and chevronned bar, decided to chance it.
CRUNCH. THWACK.
The roof, it turns out, is 1.92m tall but the aerial box on the top is another 0.05m. You may have already worked out that I was precisely 0.04m too tall for this car park. Don’t look so smug, the lovely lady at Land Rover says I am not the first.
I then had to explain to the Managing Director of the UK’s leading warranty company that I was going to be late because I couldn’t fit in the car park, and could he possibly meet me on the street?
“That’s ridiculous, my Toyota Land Cruiser fits in. Don’t they know people need to park?”
I pointed out that my Discovery would now fit in his car park, as I had reduced its height. You see, in order to get out, I had to bash past the barrier again. This completely removed the bent piece of plastic roof trim. It’s just, with the way the day was going, I thought it might be best to park somewhere with more than 5cm of leeway.
Provided you have about 60cm of flexibility in all directions (including up), the astonishingly massive Disovery is a doddle to park. The all-round sensors are very good, the wheel is light and the steering lock gives you lots of turn-in.
Resist for a moment longer, if you can, to sneer like my friends did about me driving a 4x4 of any description (let alone one bigger than a Toyota Land Cruiser) in cities. My turbo diesel Discovery comes with a carbon offset program, so it is completely carbon neutral. That means as I sit a whole story above the electric G-whizz car and overtake the Prius, I am still greener than both.
Screaming back along the motorway from Reading I realised why Land Rover is chosen for jungle expeditions. Because you can depend on a ‘Landy’ to get you through the tight spots that us adventurers inevitably stumble upon. In the urban jungle of Reading we had come face-face with multi-story hell, and severed the aerial cables. So imagine how impressed I was to realise that the Sat Nav still worked and I could still pick up Capital and Virgin radio stations.
I opened a chilled drink from the fridge that can be found in the central armrest, flicked on the cruise control and relaxed in the tanned leather armchair; the elevated section of the M4 has never felt so tranquil. The combination of incredibly good front seats and library-like levels of road and wind noise mean that a Land Rover Discovery is an oasis.
“But you wouldn’t actually buy one, would you?” asked a friend.
Actually, I would. I was not particularly excited when I booked the Land Rover in for a test. When I first walked up to it, my excitement reduced slightly further. But then I drove it a couple of times and it is sublime in almost everyway.
It is lighter around town than the Volvo XC90 and the gearbox pick-up is better too. It is surprisingly economical with its use of diesel and glides along the motorway like a stealth bomber.
You can see all traffic incidents between you and the horizon, that’s how high you sit, and the air con is so good that even in heat-waves, despite the two sunroofs and all the glass, you feel chilled to perfection.
OK it rolls a lot round the corners, so you have to go very slowly, but then it is slightly taller than a bungalow and has never claimed to be a sports car. So what do you expect? And whenever you get in, you tug the door shut but it doesn’t close properly. So you have to open it and slam it manfully. Then the passengers all have to do the same. But that’s it.
Sadly I never had the chance to use the big chunky 4x4 controls that set the car up for steep hills, ravines and the like. But then, nor will most of you if you buy one.
Summary
If you want better handling around town or b-roads, you might consider one its close rivals, like the Volvo XC90. Otherwise, the Land Rover Discovery is the perfect big luxury 4x4. I am not really a 4x4 person, so I was genuinely surprised by how much I liked driving it both on motorways and in town.
Road test car details
Land Rover Discovery Td6 HSE
OTR: £ 45000
0-62: 11secs
MPG: 27.7
Co2 g/KM: 270
Words: Matthew Tumbridge