LAND Rover has gone from upright and boxy to sleek and elegant with its new Discovery Sport, launched last month in the Philippines at a glitzy affair at the new Axon Green Sun Events Centre in Makati City.
Among the special guests were British ambassador Asif Ahmad and Indian ambassador Lalduhthlana Ralte.
The new Discovery Sport is indeed sleek and stylish, but it's still endowed with Land Rover's legendary rugged, go-anywhere qualities.
Land Rover Philippines says it's the "world’s most versatile compact SUV" with the benefits of seven seats and highly efficient engines. It is certainly a more than worthy successor to the highly popular Freelander.
The Sport's stylish lines bear more than a passing remembrance to its more expensive stable mate, the Range Rover Evoque. Indeed, many of the Sport’s underpinnings are shared with the Evoque.
It has a compact exterior footprint similar to most five-seat competitors, but the adoption of an all-new multi-link rear suspension arrangement has allowed Land Rover’s engineers to create a three-row 5+2 seating set-up.
As with most seven-seater SUVs, the rearmost seats fold out of the floor and are really only intended for occasional use. Good for kids and small people, but not beefy chaps like me.
For enhanced space and comfort, the second-row seats slide and recline for perfect seating positions. There are multiple cup holders and storage bins for every seating position.
The interior has a very relaxed and luxurious feel about it. Options, including twin-needle-stitched leather, genuine metal interior trim, configurable mood lighting and multi-zone climate control, all add to make the cabin refined and comfortable.
Thanks to the Haldex All-Wheel-Drive system, like all Land Rovers, the Sport is capable of tackling the roughest of terrains.
Three engine options are offered with advanced nine-speed automatic transmission. A 2.2-liter TD4 turbo diesel; a more powerful 2.2-liter SD4 turbo diesel and the top of the range is the 2.0-liter Si4 turbocharged all-alloy gasoline engine.
Engine and road noise are well-insulated from the cabin while the ride is comfortable with very little body roll through the corners.
Safety features include a maximum five-star euro Ncap rating, a pedestrian airbag that deploys from the rear edge of the hood, autonomous emergency braking and numerous airbags for the occupants.
The Sport has been designed to be as environmentally sustainable as it is affordable to run: CO2 emissions as low as 119g/km are comparable to smaller and less versatile family hatchbacks.
“Design excellence and engineering integrity are hallmarks of every Land Rover model. Discovery Sport embodies that spirit and emerges as the most accomplished vehicle in its segment,” said Wellington Soong, chair and president of Land Rover Philippines.
The new Discovery Sport is quickly becoming a bestseller - around 10,000 units have been sold already in the UK alone in the past seven months. It's being built at Land Rover's Halewood plant in England, which is already working 24 hours a day to meet worldwide demand.
It's easy to see why the Sport has become an instant success. It offers a sleek and elegant aerodynamic design, legendary Land Rover capability, a flexible interior and it oozes quality.