The Ability is there that is...
We did plunge the Discovery Sport into 2 feet of fast-flowing water that came midway up the doors. As you would expect from the brand, the capable rig had no issue whatsoever fording the nearly frozen river. That is why you’re spending the extra money on a Land Rover product -- the promise of go-anywhere capability. And go anywhere we did. Up snow-covered volcanic hills and down icy, cragged trails, the Discovery Sport never so much as hinted at getting stuck. Again, the studded tires no doubt helped, but so did Land Rover’s patented Terrain Response system that we had locked into Mud, Gravel and Snow the entire time (save for some ice ballet/donuts I performed in a frozen church parking lot with every single system switched off). Land Rover was obsessed with us using the Hill Descent Control feature, but with the amount of grip on hand, I much preferred paddle shifting the nine-speed ZF transmission down a couple of gears when encountering a steep grade. Of note: This is the first nine-speed-equipped vehicle I’ve driven where the transmission felt properly tuned.
