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Negatives Of Discovery Sport Reviews

15906 Views 15 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  bob, 
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While it's always great to hear about what exactly a vehicle excels at, also delving into what's bad about it and where improvements can be made are just as important. A lot of automotive publications got to drive the Discovery Sport and here you'll find some negatives they highlighted.



DO NOT Opt For The 7-Seater Option

Now don’t get me wrong, this is a great family car. It’s comfortable and spacious, particularly if you DO NOT opt for the 7-seater option as that will just eat into the generous cargo space and provides only occasional seating best left for children (if you want a 7-seater Land Rover go for the excellent LR4 instead).
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Solid Interior Materials Won’t Impress

Solid interior materials won’t impress in the manner of top-shelf Range Rovers, but those can be twice the price. The fixed-glass roof option brings the outdoors in. Land Rover’s improved user interface is straightforward, though lethargic at times. The navigation system provides a “breadcrumb trail” for tracing your way back to civilization. There are storage hooks and nooks, including a small hiding spot under a front cup holder.

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Jolt From Poor Road Surfaces Can Be Felt

The Discovery Sport borrows heavily from the Range Rover Evoque underneath, which is a good starting point. But the Sport uses a completely revised rear suspension system, primarily to increase interior space.

Although the firmness is evident at low speeds where the odd jolt from poor road surfaces can be felt, the sophisticated suspension smoothes out lumps in the road better at higher speeds. That makes it a relaxed motorway cruiser. Even so, there’s no option of the Evoque’s superb MagneRide suspension that constantly adapts to the road surface.
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The Cabin Can Use Some Improvment

The cabin is one of the few areas that could use some improvement. The material quality is satisfactory, though the simple design does nothing for the space. We did, however, love the brown leather in our tester.

The location of the window controls, at the top of the door (as per Land Rover tradition) is awkward to reach and would be much more convenient elsewhere.
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This Powertrain Begs For Its Own Retirement

It also shares the Evoque's laggy, boomy, Ford-sourced 2.0-liter, 240-hp turbocharged four-cylinder and recalcitrant, uncoordinated, frustrating ZF 9-speed automatic. The snow and low speeds still couldn't hide how badly this powertrain begs for its own retirement. Luckily, we expect Jaguar Land Rover's new Ingenium four-cylinder to appear in a few years—in both gasoline and diesel forms, the latter of which makes me go gooey inside.
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J
Thanks for sharing these.

The 7-seat option is what many folks and even the dealer has told me about. It's only going to be children and smaller adults that will be able to fit back their without much issue.
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R
I've also read the negative reviews on the engine and transmission but have not experienced anything like what has been described so far. Could be my driving style which is not aggressive, let's say smooth, does not bring out the problems. There is a;so tendency to think that whatever you have bought is, if not perfect, is good otherwise it reflects badly on your choice.. (especially if the thing you bought cost $50K).

We are leaving tomorrow for a trip from Northern CA to Idaho which will include a mix of road types and will try to provide objective comments after we return.
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L
Ray said:
I've also read the negative reviews on the engine and transmission but have not experienced anything like what has been described so far. Could be my driving style which is not aggressive, let's say smooth, does not bring out the problems. There is a;so tendency to think that whatever you have bought is, if not perfect, is good otherwise it reflects badly on your choice.. (especially if the thing you bought cost $50K).

We are leaving tomorrow for a trip from Northern CA to Idaho which will include a mix of road types and will try to provide objective comments after we return.
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That's what i've noticed which brings this to my surprise especially since you mostly hear about the negatives and no so much of the positives since the negatives need solutions!
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C
I wonder if a more civilized right foot than a heavy healed, automotive reviewer is what the DS really likes. Granted, there is a time and place for the loud pedal, but for most people, full throttle isn't a way of life.


I hope to make it to the dealer soon for a test drive. I still have a little time before I can pull the trigger.


Rob
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K
I'd rather have the 3rd row and not need it, than not have it, and need it.
I don't see where it takes anything away from the vehicle if they are stowed away; I still have a full-sized spare under the back.

Enabling the flappy-paddles in both 'D' and 'S' modes allows the revs to be spun up, and get the turbo spinning if you need something extra from the 'go' pedal.
Upshift as required and leave it alone, and it will return to 'D' mode. Brilliant!
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M
Negative reviews journalists are not always objective. Moreover, in Russia conducted several comparative tests with the same class cars, but the findings were due to subektinym perception and adequate sospostavleniem (DS compared to the X3, the price of which was significantly higher).

However, there were already the owners of the negative reviews on forums.
Here are some try to translate into English.

"For the first week, 2nd dangerous to life and health damage, and the second - exactly the same, and the next day, after the repair from an authorized dealer in Moscow. Open nozzle attachment, instant loss of power and speed. Both on the track

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M
Here are some photos. Sorry for the images if they do not increase (not yet figured out how to attach)

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R
Just returned from a 2000 mile trip to Idaho from Northern California through parts of 5 states with a good part of it being two lane roads, some hilly. Made a real effort to get a feel for the engine and transmission and how they felt and performed.

Conclusion is that the drive-ability is very good, certainly better than the other three SUVs I have owned recently (Saab 94x, Nissan Murano, Nissan Xterra). In cruise control at 70 or so it never dropped more than two gears and always smoothly. Most of the time, even over Donner Pass it only shifted down one gear. Power was good, on a secondary road in Nevada I passed a truck, briskly, and looked down to see the needle on the 100mph marker. Not on purpose. Still very happy with the car and do not see the engine and transmission as a negative.

I also believe I understand the reviewers who were dissatisfied. If you look for it and pay attention there is a 1/4 to 1/3 second delay in acceleration. Not always detectable but definitely there, suspect this is turbo lag. If you are trying to accelerate rapidly you can also feel the downshift at close to the same time so you experience a couple of things happening, not all at once.. I also think that in those instances the downshift can occur just as the turbo is coming on resulting in a shot of power (feels good). Could also be that other high end SUVs, especially if they are not turbo, feel better/differently to these writers.

In the end I loved driving the car, and if I was not deliberately looking for problems, I did not notice them. Had a lot of comments about the car and still think it is great looking.

Interested in comments from other owners.

Ray
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DiscoDisco
Well I'll admit, I've been very pleased and surprised with the power train in the Disco. This coming from a militant V8 guy. This is the second 4cyl I've ever owned since my first the 4 banger in a Ford Ranger I drove for a short time around 94 when I was in college....I quickly traded it for a Ranger with the 4.0 V6. Besides those two trucks every vehicle I've owned has been a V8.

This engine has a bit of turbo lag, No doubt. That endemic to turbos. Without the forced induction this motor is a turd. So there's no wonder it won't do anything with any semblance of authority until the turbo spools up. I don't know if that'll ever get fixed unless there's some aftermarket tuning that can be done. LR will never address it. But it doesn't really bother me to badly as its my wife's vehicle.... She wouldn't know turbo lag from a kick in the ass. When I drive the vehicle, I enjoy it far more than I ever thought.

I'm also a big fan of adding gears to the trans.....as long as the tuning is right and they are not getting diminishing returns...I.e...overkill. I've loved the 8 speeds in my last two RAM trucks so I was excited about the 9 speed in the Disco. Then I heard grumbling from the evoque owners. But I think this is s great shifting trans. Just like in my RAM, which was a shock at first, you get more engine breaking. I have actually grown to appreciate it.

All in all, not bring s do called "expert" but being a guy that likes cars and "likes what he likes"...this is a nice running drivetrain so far.
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DiscoDisco
My only real negative about the Disco is the infotainment. I hear it's alot better than the previous system...Which must have been gawd awful...It's slick looking and I even like the smallish screen size (I think they are starting to get way too big in size these days) but.....it's still behind. That's just not acceptable for a premium automaker. I sincerely hope they can upgrade and update this system over time.
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J
What do you not like about it specifically? Is it stuff that it just doesn't work, or is it more that it is hard to figure out?
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DiscoDisco
Junior said:
What do you not like about it specifically? Is it stuff that it just doesn't work, or is it more that it is hard to figure out?
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Well Junior, Im used to the very good uConnect system. Its almost seamless and it very robust. So thats my baseline. I will say that the InControl system is better than the ridiculous sync that was in a couple of our last Fords but I would expect better. Knock wood, the InControl has not mafunctionned though. It works its just...different.
Its a bit laggy. The InControl App for using music is a bit weak. It has to restart any time you get a call or if you touch anything on your phone. The App itself is way slicker than just running through the BT or wire but its just a bit weak in functionality. You cant scroll through presets from the steering wheel, which sucks.
But I will say its a WAY better looking system than uConnect and I like the swipe function. It has its pros but I just like stuff to work, work fast and do what its supposed to do.
Having spent more time with it Im getting used to navigting around in it...I think some of the other perceived weaknesses that I had have been sorted out and are not as bad as I first thought. One thing I thought would be a major pain was to switch back and forth between paired phones when they are both in the car. Well, thats been a non issue. The switch is easy. Connection to either phone is extremely fast. Voice recognition is easily on par with uConnect....its actually better when it comes to Nav. The Nav is also very good IMO. Talking hads free on the phone has been very acceptable.
Still when it comes to a premium line of vehicles, I would expect nothing but the most top shelf in infotainment, this is a step in the right direction but it still aint quite there. I wouldnt be so hard on it if I havent been living with something a step above.
InControl has real potential I just hope, hope, hope it can be upgraded with firmware, software uppdates.
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J
Would you be in favor of JLR going with something from Apple, Android or one of those companies trying to get into the vehicle infotainment game?
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DiscoDisco
Well, I think that infotainment is one of the big factors in a vehicle's customer satisfaction these days. Its VERY competitive and LR should not be lagging behind. So they jut need to find the best and go with it. Its surprising that up till just this year its only been an afterthought with them.
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B
Agreed. I just drove the 2016 and Evoque and Discovery and noticed that same acceleration paused you are talking about. I estimated that it was 1/2 to a full second. I really noticed it when I was at a light turning right. I would accelerate from a stop to get into traffic. The pause was a bit alarming.

I had the same problem with a BMW 135 I had. Very fast car but for some reason I'd get that same acceleration pause. Some years later I leased a BMW 228 and the pause was gone.
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