New Land Rover Discovery Sport

The new Land Rover Discovery Sport brings good news for Evoque lovers,families of seven, people who can’t park and jaywalkers.

This is the new Land Rover Discovery Sport, and as you can see, it looks very much like a new Range Rover. Like a bigger Evoque, to be specific.Scores of people expected it to replace the aging Freelander 2, but the Sport is to be seen as an extension of the Discovery line-up. It’s called the ‘Discovery Sport’ for a reason, and no, it is not a like-for-like replacement for the Freelander.It uses a heavily-modified version of the Evoque’s platform, which itself is based on a heavily-reworked Freelander platform. Still, it has enough bits built from scratch for it to be called an all-new vehicle.

The Disco Sport, in true Discovery fashion, has a hugely versatile interior. The rear suspension is a compact multi-link example, which has been brought in to liberate more space for the passengers to be seated in the +2 seats. Yes, it’s a compact LR that can transport a family of seven. To make it more flexible, there’s a tilt-and-slide middle row, and, with all rows folded flat into the floor, it has as much cargo space as a Range Rover. View it this way: if the Evoque is a style-obsessed, carefree 20-something, the Discovery Sport is an Evoque at the age of 30... with two children. More practical, but still a bit of  a looker.

You get autonomous emergency braking on the Disco Sport, which, using stereo cameras, can detect an imminent collision and brake automatically at a speed of upto 50kph. At 80kph, it can, at best, reduce the severity of the impact. Too bad if you’re doing 81kph.

In addition to that, there’s full parking assist, where you only operate the pedals, and the car does the steering bit for you. There’s also a pedestrian airbag, so expect jaywalkers to take liberties with the DS.

Available on the Disco Sport are the 2.0-litre Si4 petrol (237bhp) and the 2.0-litre diesel (187bhp) engines, again, from the Evoque , with a  6-speed manual and a  9-speed automatic gearbox on offer. Later, there will also be a 148bhp,two-wheel drive diesel variant, which will sport a smaller price tag. We, of course, will only get the 9-speeder, but the full engine line-up should be available here.

Talking price, the Discovery Sport will sit between the Freelander and the Evoque when it is launched in 2015.