![]() This was not a matter of evolution, but really breaking away," he said. Exterior designer Massimo Frascella does not share his predecessors' sentimentality. The stepped roofline, a signature motif, has been smoothed into nonexistence.Ī conventional liftgate replaces the quirky, horizontally split two-piece hatch. Gone are the cinder-block bodylines and upright windscreen, supplanted by a cohesive, corporate shape. The Discovery, which replaces the LR4, ditches the old steel ladder frame, moving on to the Range Rover Sport's thoroughly modern unibody structure. Each also sold better than the last.įor this fifth generation, heritage goes out the window. But each new Discovery was fatter and softer than the last, further upmarket and away from the truck's original mis-sion. Because of that heritage, Land Rover stubbornly carried the same industrial design cues and body-on-frame construction through four generations. Eventually becoming a cult icon, it spawned a single-make jungle-racing series, captivated the rural leisure class, and became a poster child for European overlanding culture. Twenty-eight years ago, the first Discovery, a ruggedly highbrow family truckster, launched to universal acclaim. The system is undeniably effective, incredibly clever, and, ultimately, pretty uninvolving once you're actually using it. Tires slip and grab, axles hop and skip, all of their own volition. Pedals rise and fall, as if attached to a bewitched church organ. The truck feeds itself throttle, manipulates differential lockup, and pulsates each brake caliper, working very hard to maintain a modest pace. Here's how it works: The user presses a button, selects a speed up to 18 mph, then releases the brake. Introductions come courtesy of All-Terrain Progress Control, which debuted in the flagship Range Rover last year. ![]() Welcome to the world of semiautonomous off-roading, no Gore-Tex or pickax required. Man enters machine, drives into a perfect landscape, rams said machine down Mother Nature's throat. Ones I couldn't help asking as the all-new Land Rover Discovery HSE tetered on three wheels, halfway up a massive rock pile in the wilds of southern Utah, framed against a desert sunrise. Mainstream? Does buying in mean selling out? Vexing questions. C AN YOU APPEAL to the masses without pandering? How do you bring an acquired taste into the ![]()
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