Land Rover Discovery review

Think of the Land Rover Discovery as the Swiss Army knife of the car world: it can do almost any job you ask of it, and more.

Need to carry seven people in comfort? No problem. Want an upmarket chariot to impress a date? It'll do that, too. Need to tow a caravan out of a muddy field? The Discovery has your back. It'll even take you places where a mountain goat would think twice about venturing.

It also has more of a heritage to shout about than most of its luxury SUV rivals, having first arrived on the scene way back in 1989. This latest fifth-generation model (called the Land Rover Discovery 5) is the most lavish and technologically advanced yet, sitting above the smaller Discovery Sport in Land Rover's line-up. 

But while the Discovery certainly has plenty going for it, so do its key rivals, including the Audi Q7, BMW X5, Mercedes GLE and Volvo XC90. Okay, none of those has quite the same off-roading skills, but let's face it, are you really ever going to need to tackle more than a slippery National Trust car park?

Beside its capabilities on the rough stuff, you'll want to know how the Land Rover Discovery squares up against its rivals in the important areas, namely practicality, on-road driving manners, interior quality and costs. Read on over the next few pages and we’ll give you the answers, plus we'll even tell you which engines and trims make the most sense.

And, once you've made your mind up, don't forget to check our deals to find out how much money you could save on the brochure price of any new car.