Land Rover's Least Pricey Model Due for Makeover, Plug-in Variant

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

The Discovery Sport serves as an entry point to the Land Rover lineup, retailing in the U.S. for $37,795 before delivery and offering a similarly sized, cheaper alternative to its Range Rover Evoque platform mate.

Two flavors of four-cylinder power is your only option in this model, but that might not be the case for long. Land Rover apparently has big changes in store for its lowest-rung model.

According to Autocar, the Discovery Sport undergoes a significant revamp for 2020, and should make its public debut early next year. More than just a refresh, the model is expected to ditch its D8 platform in favor of heavily revised underpinnings. Land Rover’s Premium Transverse Architecture (PTA), also bound for the next-gen Evoque, is stiffer than its compact predecessor, and should return improved ride quality.

A new engine mount design and transmission is said to improve throttle response by 40 percent, while minor changes to the body yield a drag reduction of 10 percent. That’s not the only fuel-saving trick Land Rover has planned. A hybrid version of the model will appear (though whether it will be available at launch isn’t known), combining a new three-cylinder Ingenium engine with an electric motor. A plug-in hybrid variant is also on the horizon, as are mild hybrid models.

Just how far a Discovery Sport PHEV might drive on electric power alone remains to be seen. However, with three rows of seating on tap, the model would serve as a suitable upscale rival to Volvo’s XC90.

Multiple green powertrain offerings are essential in Europe, where newfound government pressure makes diesel power an increasingly unpopular option. In the U.S., Land Rover might not feel the need to offer the same level of environmental stewardship. We’ll see.

Currently, Discovery Sports can be had with two turbocharged 2.0-liters — one offering 237 horsepower and 251 lb-ft of torque, the other boasting 286 hp and 295 lb-ft. Over the first half of 2018, sales of the Discovery Sport fell 18.8 percent in the U.S.

[Image: Jaguar Land Rover]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

More by Steph Willems

Comments
Join the conversation
10 of 13 comments
  • Derekson Derekson on Jul 27, 2018

    "However, with three rows of seating on tap, the model would serve as a suitable upscale rival to Volvo’s XC90." Isn't the fullsized Discovery already the rival for the XC90?

  • Hummer Hummer on Jul 27, 2018

    What an embarrassing waste of $40k I didn't realize that tiny thing costed that much. I wouldn't be caught dead in it before when I thought it was a $25k vehicle, now I'm just embarrassed for mankind.

    • See 7 previous
    • Lie2me Lie2me on Jul 28, 2018

      @mittencuh My bad Ford supplied the 2.0 turbo for MY2015 only... "The Discovery Sport was initially powered by the same engine range that features in the outgoing Freelander 2 model for the first model year, the Ford EcoBoost four cylinder 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine producing 240 PS (180 kW; 240 hp) (the only engine option for North America)" -Wikipedia

  • Ronin It's one thing to stay tried and true to loyal past customers; you'll ensure a stream of revenue from your installed base- maybe every several years or so.It's another to attract net-new customers, who are dazzled by so many other attractive offerings that have more cargo capacity than that high-floored 4-Runner bed, and are not so scrunched in scrunchy front seats.Like with the FJ Cruiser: don't bother to update it, thereby saving money while explaining customers like it that way, all the way into oblivion. Not recognizing some customers like to actually have right rear visibility in their SUVs.
  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
Next