New SUV Land Rover Range Rover Evoque VS Crossover Discovery Sport 2016, 2017

New SUV Land Rover Range Rover Evoque VS Crossover Discovery Sport A new front bumper punctuated by a pair of larger, more-aggressive air intakes and featuring slim, integrated LED fog lamps leads the update, accompanied by two new grille designs. The standard unit has two horizontal bars and a fine mesh pattern, while Evoque Dynamic models get a hexagonal pattern. The turn indicators are now fully part of the LED running lamps, and the 2016 Evoque also offers full-LED adaptive headlamps. Five-door HSE Dynamic and Interior updates include new seats, doorsills, and “premium soft-touch materials.” Standard models make do with eight-way power-adjustable front seats, while spending the big bucks can net fourteen-way seats with optional massagers. Lunar Ice and Vintage Tan join the optional interior colors, bringing the total number of choices to a whopping 13. New powertrain options include a pair of TD4 diesels from JLR’s new Ingenium engine family, but those won’t be coming here—at least not yet, as the diesels have yet to be approved for use stateside. A Land Rover rep told us that “the corporate push for bringing diesel to the States is scheduled to happen soon, but at this time we don’t have a date.” (Of note: The U.S.-spec 2016 Range Rover and Range Rover Sport will have a diesel V-6 on their options sheets.) When the updated 2016 Range Rover Evoque arrives here this fall, it will be powered by the familiar 240-hp 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder mated to a nine-speed automatic. Likewise, a trio of driver-assist features—lane-keeping assist, autonomous emergency braking, and a drowsiness monitor—have been added to the 2016 Evoque, but the same spokesperson told us that there may be a scenario where some of the gadgets aren’t available at launch. The final new bit is All-Terrain Progress Control, which allows you to set a speed between 1.1 and 19 mph, thereby letting the driver concentrate on picking through tricky or obstacle-strewn terrain rather than worrying about the vehicle’s speed. Things that get taken for granted: water, wi-fi connectivity, wives, democracy, the family car. Indeed, you know you’ve got the ideal car when it slips into the background of your life, effortlessly carting the family and their myriad possessions, performing reliably, devoid of niggles and not supping too much fuel, while still being thoroughly satisfying to drive. Can Land Rover’s Discovery Sport fulfil that brief over the next 12 months? Despite resembling a shrunken Range Rover Sport, the Discovery Sport doesn’t ooze status and performance but deeply unpretentious practicality. This is a seven-seat SUV, or 5+2 in Land Rover-speak, in a bid to make the rear seats as forbidding to grown-ups as a Donald Trump presidency. The drivetrain choice is surprisingly uncomplicated for UK buyers. There’s just one 2.0-litre ‘Ingenium’ diesel engine, with either 148bhp/276lb ft or 178bhp/317lb ft. Unlike in the Evoque, there’s currently no front-wheel-drive option: choose from six-speed manual or nine-speed automatic transmission to channel power to all four wheels. We’ve opted for the higher output engine (naturally) and stumped up £1805 for the auto: its different ratios bite a whole second from the manual’s 9.4sec 0-62mph time. The Discovery Sport came to market with a 2.2-litre Ford diesel, but the JLR-developed and built Ingenium unit replaced it last summer. It’s smooth, even when you wind it out to the redline, and combustion clatter is well suppressed. The same four-pot powers our long-term Jaguar XE too, where it makes a bellowing noise twinned with Pavarotti’s vacuum cleaner, accompanied by an induction whistle reminiscent of a badly tuned radio. Surely some mistake: an SUV engine sounding more refined than a Jag’s! Carbon emissions are 139g/km, with a combined fuel consumption figure of 53.3mpg (both figures lag way behind the Jaguar’s, as you’d expect given the Land Rover is 319kg heavier). But in our first full month at the wheel, mostly during fast motorway commutes, the Disco averaged 33.3mpg – that’s a shocking 37% off the official figure. Seriously need that economy to improve over time.