Land Rover Discovery 4

Land Rover Discovery 4



‘Anywhere is Possible ’

The arguments for and against off-road cars are both fairly silly. On the one hand, you have a Top Gear wannabe appearing on DSTV, saying that he doesn’t like the new BMW X5.


And on the other, you have Honda arguing that its new CR-V will cause no more damage to the planet than a toaster or a cow.


The facts of the matter are irrelevant because if you drive a large SUV round a city centre these days you are almost melted by the hate. You’d get less reaction if you were caught videoing a school playground while wearing a dirty shirt.



Now truth be told, I’ve always wanted a proper Land Rover, but today I’m not sure I could actually buy one. It seems 4x4s kill polar bears, drown Indonesians, bankrupt ski resorts and don’t slow down for porcupines. Strangely, however, the car makers don’t seem to have noticed this. Instead of launching a new small hybrid to quench the thirst of all those weird beards, that enjoy organic everything and making the word a greener place. Land Rover has left that to Honda, stuck to it’s rugged city slicker image and announced the arrival in South Africa of a Land Rover Discovery 4 . . .





Not since the rolling stones last picked up a microphone have we heard anything quite so out of tune with the way of the world. But like the rolling stones, this thing does have a place.

It’s reliable, good looking, quite well priced and it’s served on heritage of no nonsense performance. The V6 turbo diesel is quiet and muffled until you mush your foot in the carpet at which the fury of this epic machine becomes exhilaratingly obvious, professional power, more moving than a speech by Tony Robins and as powerful as an exploding grenade and weirdly, way more economical than it’s older brother with substantially fewer carbon emissions.


The Freelander will hit your pockets around R637 000, and along with a cavernous interior you'll get comfortable leather seats air-conditioning and a premium sound system as well as satellite navigation, air suspension and a host of little extra features.





This car changes everything. I assumed that because Land Rover is owned by Tata, which also owns Jaguar. It’s an all new 3 litre V6 unit, designed in conjunction with state of the art turbo diesel technology, and to be frank it’s really good.



It makes a nice noise, and because it develops 225kw your big Landy will get from 0-1oo in 6.2sec and reach 240km/h. You really can’t think of it in the same breath as it’s German or Japanese rivals. A machine for the ages, a Jack of all trades and something to look out for in the driveway of any distinguished mans home.