Land Rover Discovery UPDATED for 2021 – but NOT the wonky tailgate

Land Rover Discovery updated

The Land Rover Discovery has been updated with some minor cosmetic tweaks, a new range of mild hybrid engines and a new Pivi Pro Infotainment.

It’s four years since Land Rover replaced the Discovery 4 with the new Discovery (which isn’t the Discovery 5), in the process seemingly losing a lot of what made the Discovery 4 appealing.

Gone was the boxy shape of the ‘4’ and in came a new sleeker look, a look that worked okay from the front, although the profile looked uncomfortably long, and the back end seemed to have lost the plot with its off-set numberplate – echoing the Disco 4 – which, without a spare bolted on, looked just plain odd. So odd, in fact, that there’s an aftermarket fix for it.

All that said, the Discovery is still, like all Land Rovers, a very appealing and able car (as long as you’re lucky with reliability), although its once certain place in the Land Rover range seems unclear as Land Rover and Range Rover models proliferate, and you do wonder who would buy a Discovery instead of a new Defender?

Now it’s time for an update for the Discovery, and Land Rover are stubbornly refusing to acknowledge that wonky tailgate issue, so it stays, with the main tweaks new LED matrix headlights, titivated bumper, grille and air intakes, new wheel designs and new tail lights and gloss back panel at the back in an attempt to make the Disco look a bit les skinny.

Inside the main news, as it has been with all JLR’s recent titivates, is the much-needed arrival of the Pivi Pro infotainment, and there’s also wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, new steering wheel and improved back seats.

As you’d expect, the Discovery now comes with mild hybrid engines, with a 296bhp 4-pot P300 and 355bhp 6-pot P360 petrols, and a pair of 6-pot diesels in the 246bhp D250 and 296bhp D300.

The updated Land Rover Discovery is now on sale with prices starting at £53,090 (over 20 per cent more than the entry-level Disco cost when it arrived four years ago) and going up quite considerably (over £70k) once you tick the boxes for the right engine, right options and the right trim level.

New Land Rover Discovery Video