Land Rover Discovery is king off the road

LIKE an already well-off toff who pockets the lottery jackpot at the first time of trying, the storming Land Rover Discovery gets a raft of upgrades for 2012 that will make its rivals loathe it even more.

The headliners are a cleaner, more powerful three-litre V6 diesel (grunt goes up to 252bhp from 242bhp but CO2 emissions drop from 244g/km to 230g/km) and an eight-speed automatic gearbox with flappy paddles and a rotary gearknob that looks like it’s come out of a Jag XJ.

A 208bhp entry-level Disco promises to be even kinder to the environment over which this premium SUV will fearlessly tread. And when we say “fearlessly”, we mean it. Despite our best efforts to break it on a jaunt round the Duke of Roxburghe’s back yard, including a three-mile section of Roman “road” last travelled by Hadrian’s troops, the Discovery ploughed on with ne’er a slip or a stumble, before whisking us back to Floors Castle in time for tea and chocolate eclairs.

For all its power, the big engine barely raises its voice above a whisper, and the handsomely appointed cabin is a lovely place to spend an afternoon, listening to curlews and/or low-flying RAF Tornados. If the sound of all that countryside gets a bit much, you’ll be delighted to know that the range-topping Harmon Kardon stereo system now comes with 17 speakers and 825 watts of din-making power.