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The Land Rover Discovery has gained a strong following since its Australian launch in 1991 among 4WD fans, and with good reason.
All offer genuine off-road abilities, with the original and its 1998 successor derived from the first Range Rover (1970); the go-anywhere Discovery 3 of 2004 was developed under Ford ownership, as was the '4' facelift. Yet, the '5' – the first under Tata control – launched in 2017 ditched the ladder-frame chassis for a monocoque body, ushering in better on-road manners and a more luxurious and spacious interior, while maintaining superb 4x4 prowess. Petrol and diesels are available across the line, along with the excellent 'Terrain Response' off-roading system. Since 2020, in-line six-cylinder engines have replaced the four-cylinder units, further pushing Discovery upmarket. The base model starts from $116,006, rising to $130,405 for the most expensive version. Fun fact: the latest Defender is loosely based on and built alongside it in Slovakia.
I wouldn’t be concerned about the cylinder configuration of a particular engine. What’s more important is how much power and torque that engine makes, and how towing-friendly that power delivery is. By which we mean how smooth and flexible is the delivery. What you don’t want is a peaky engine that needs to be revved before it delivers the good as that puts a strain on everything and make the vehicle tricky and unpleasant to drive.
The good news is that all the vehicles you’ve nominated have good, solid powerplants that are well suited to towing a caravan. Modern turbo-diesels – especially with an automatic transmission – are ideal for this task.
What you should go for, however, is the vehicle with the highest towing rating. In this case, that’s any of the Grand Cherokee, MU-X or older Discovery, all of which have variants that can handle a towed load of 3.5 tonnes. The Everest is almost as good with 3.1 tonne, but only almost. The problem is that the van you’ve nominated can easily weigh between 2.2 and 2.8 tonnes which, with a 3.1-tonne limit, leaves you very little headroom for water tanks and camping gear. You’d be amazed at how much a fully loaded caravan weighs, so don’t rely on the brochure, load the van and take it to a weighbridge to make sure the vehicle you have can legally tow it.
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Land Rover still refers to the third-generation, L462-series model as the Discovery 5, but the number was dropped in some markets to distance it from the L319-series LR3 and LR4, which were the North American names for the Ford-era Discovery 3 (2003) and Discovery 4 (2009) respectively.
Though not officially confirmed, it is believed that the name change in both instances was due to the poor reliability reputation that the earlier models gained. The same fate befell the Freelander badge, when its successor became known as the much-more-chic Evoque.
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Indeed it will so get in quick.
With its mix of classic Range Rover and a Rover Group parts-bin bits, Morris Marina door handles, Austin Montego van tail-lights and Buick’s ancient alloy V8 all part of the mix, this thing is pre-BMW/post-BMC era British engineering genius.
Also, the original Disco is cool, with its lovely two-door wagon body, stepped roof with skylights and airy, inviting cabin offering minimalist, attractive design. And please don't forget the Land Rover's formidable 4x4 capabilities.
All-in-all, a '90s classic worth collecting. Land Rover doesn't make 'em like this any more.
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The following Land Rover Discovery comes in both five and seven seat options. All variants are available with both seating configurations. Ebony cloth seats are the only seats available on the Discovery S variant. The Landmark variant has the choice of either Ebony cloth or grained leather seats. Grained leather seats are also available on the Discovery SE variant, with the choice of Ebony or Acorn. The HSE and HSE Luxury variants have the option of Ebony, Acorn or Light Oyster grained leather or Ebony, Light Tan or Light Oyster Windsor leather.
The Discovery's interior gives much more expensive Range Rover models a run for their money, with these images showing a rugged but classy dashboard and all bar the base version coming fitted with leather trim and seven seats.