New Land Rover Discovery Sport – a touch of Velar and a dose of Hybrid

The new Land Rover Discovery Sport arrives with a new platform, design tweaks and a cabin inspired by the Range Rover Velar. 

The Land Rover Discovery Sport is really rather important to Land Rover as the entry-level to the brand, so a comprehensive update for 2019 – a bit more than a facelift, but a chunk less than a ‘new’ Discovery Sport – has to get things right.

Whilst no one would claim the Discovery Sport is really challenged by any of its competitors off-road, the stuff that actually matters to buyers is how it is on road, how stylish it is and how nice it is to drive. And that’s where the new Disco Sport needs to make strides.

Now sitting on the same platform as the latest Range Rover Evoque, the Discovery Sport gets a wider track, new bumpers front and back, new LED lights and new alloy wheels (even 21″ ones). Which, despite the new platform, is pretty standard facelift fodder.

So the looks are just a tweak of an, admittedly, decent looking SUV, but the new platform does increase rigidity and allows the arrival of hybrid options too.

Later in the year there’ll be a three-pot plug-in hybrid, but for now it’s the arrival of the new 48V mild-hybrid powertrains with an integrated starter generator to improve economy and performance.

Initial options range from the front-wheel drive D150 up to the P250 with four-wheel drive.

But, apart from the platform update and hybrid gubbins, it’s the interior which gets the biggest changes.

Land Rover say the Discovery Sport’s cabin now has more premium materials, has new seats across all three rows (although the cheap seats in the back are still tiny) and comes with a dose of ‘Velar’.

That means the new digital Touch Pro Infotainment with its big landscape format and the addition of lots of new technology (much of it optional).

That includes LR’s Ground View tech for ‘seeing’ through the bodywork, wireless phone charging, 4G WiFi hotspot and safety stuff like AEB, Lane Keep, Adaptive Cruise and Driver Condition.

The new Land Rover Discovery Sport is now available to order, with prices starting at £31,575 for the D150, rising to £48,575 for the P250 R-Design.