After nearly five years of happy ownership, I will soon be saying goodbye to my Yeti and saying hello to a new LR Disco Sport.

 

I say "soon", but I only placed the order yesterday and delivery is in fact not expected until Mar/Apr.  I'll do a compare & contrast once I've got my hands on the new motor.

 

Has anyone else experienced both vehicles?  

I'm still waiting for LR to arrange my day at Eastnor in the DiscoSport after my discussions with them at the Emergency Services Show!

 

Looks impressive and has got tons of room inside, and the off-road capabilities look(are) very impressive, BUT, I think it is much too big for my needs and it is too expensive for what I want, at just over £30k!

yes I had one on demo, very nice car, more luxury than a Yeti but as Graham says a lot more money as well.

 

as to size, a lot bigger than a yeti but wasn't any good for me as its too small for 3 kids seats in the middle and if you use the back seats there is no boot space at all.

 

couldn't comment on its off road capability as I don't go off road, but its a Land Rover so its got too be better than a Yeti for that.

its a Land Rover so its got too be better than a Yeti for that.

Ohhhh no, I can hear the stories a brewing 

Ohhhh no, I can hear the stories a brewing 

 

yes I thought a bit of a risky comment in this section  but an argument on which car is best is always funny

I recently had the pleasure of a half day at Eastnor Castle with a Disco Sport. I was amazed at the terrain that it is possible to traverse in what is essentially a glorified road going "hatchback" on road tyres. While I also think it is too expensive it is refined, comfortable, well equipped goes well, sufficient space for most needs and absolutely brilliant off road ( from a novices view point).

No one having this LR experience should feel disappointed either by the experience itself, the tutors, or by the capability of the vehicles. I should add that I have no links to LR and my experience was a birthday gift.

Steve

Ohhhh no, I can hear the stories a brewing 

 

 

yes I thought a bit of a risky comment in this section  but an argument on which car is best is always funny

 

Not a risky comment at all. From all that I have seen of it the off-road performance is far better than the Yeti and the previous Freelander it replaces. I am most impressed by the 500mm fording depth; that is as much as a Defender!

 

I recently had the pleasure of a half day at Eastnor Castle with a Disco Sport. I was amazed at the terrain that it is possible to traverse in what is essentially a glorified road going "hatchback" on road tyres. While I also think it is too expensive it is refined, comfortable, well equipped goes well, sufficient space for most needs and absolutely brilliant off road ( from a novices view point).

No one having this LR experience should feel disappointed either by the experience itself, the tutors, or by the capability of the vehicles. I should add that I have no links to LR and my experience was a birthday gift.

Steve

 

Jammy basket!!

Eastnor's good, isn't it? I went twice with the Freelander 2.

1/ try a U-turn in town.

2/ for the vast majority the Yeti has more than enough capability

3/ and in the real world, more economical

4/ sometimes less is more

Yes Llanigraham, Eastnor was great. I suspect that most of the alternative sites offered by LR don't have the same scope and variety of land to use so would always choose Eastnor.

While the Disco Sport is mightily impressive and will suit many people perfectly, I am still more than delighted with my Yeti which fits our lifestyle and needs, especially around town and on extended continental runs.

Steve

I'm still waiting for LR to arrange my day at Eastnor in the DiscoSport after my discussions with them at the Emergency Services Show!

 

Looks impressive and has got tons of room inside, and the off-road capabilities look(are) very impressive, BUT, I think it is much too big for my needs and it is too expensive for what I want, at just over £30k!

Thought they'd be more than that? Guess that's a really base spec?

Standard SE spec with tow bar = £31950!!

Even a Demo model wasn't much cheaper.

Also remember that the first production models had the 2.2 litre SD engine, and are now produced with the New 2.0 litre diesel engine which is from the new Jaguar models and is a far better engine than the original one carried over from the Freelander.

Tony

1/ try a U-turn in town.

2/ for the vast majority the Yeti has more than enough capability

3/ and in the real world, more economical

4/ sometimes less is more

 

The Yeti's fantastic turning circle will certainly be something I'll miss (11.6m v 10.3m "kerb to kerb")

Edited 4 December, 201510 yr by yellowyeller

Standard SE spec with tow bar = £31950!!

Even a Demo model wasn't much cheaper.

 

Yep, have gone for SE Tech with Auto/nav/glass roof/elec seats etc. came in at £37,800.  It aint cheap!

Out here the Sport TD4 SE auto is £30K on road.

We used to pay a premium for European cars, not now though

Is the discovery "Sport" on the Discovery platform or the Freelander platform.

Looking quickly it looks like the later, if that is the case I had Freelander 2 loved it but had a catastrophic engine failure just outside of warranty and cost my £2k plus hire cars etc.

To live with it is nice but not really very much room especially the boot. From outside they look big but no more room than my Octavia in fact the Octavia had more rear leg room according to my daughters.

Big problem is how many will take a £30k plus car they own down any decent farm lanes and actually go off road.

I used to as part of my hobby was green lanning and being in farmers fields but I would never take it were my Defender goes easily and without worry of scratches/dents if you get it wrong or go a bit tight.

Edited 4 December, 201510 yr by Defenderben

An indicative comprehensive quote for one here from Allianz is £250

(Country retiree)

Is the discovery "Sport" on the Discovery platform or the Freelander platform.

Looking quickly it looks like the later, if that is the case I had Freelander 2 loved it but had a catastrophic engine failure just outside of warranty and cost my £2k plus hire cars etc.

To live with it is nice but not really very much room especially the boot. From outside they look big but no more room than my Octavia in fact the Octavia had more rear leg room according to my daughters.

Big problem is how many will take a £30k plus car they own down any decent farm lanes and actually go off road.

I used to as part of my hobby was green lanning and being in farmers fields but I would never take it were my Defender goes easily and without worry of scratches/dents if you get it wrong or go a bit tight.

 

It's funny, when I think back over cars I've seen broken down at the side of the road in the last 10 years or so I'd guess that at least 50% of them are Range Rover/Land Rovers, I remember thinking to myself that I'd never buy one because of that. I also did work experience at Rover as a kid and it really put me off (even if it's not relevant nowadays!), seeing them scraping rust of steel panels that were stored outside in the rain before pressing them and knowing that the only difference in build quality between a Metro and the top-of-the-range 800 was a rubber bung at the bottom of the door so it didn't clang when it was shut didn't inspire confidence! Not really relevant now but it's just those experiences that leave an impression that's hard to shake.

It's right too that while the Range Rover is a very capable vehicle offroad it's not really what it's meant for nowadays, unless you've got money to burn it's far more of a suburban vehicle. Like most modern 4x4's and crossovers really! I'd imagine something like the Dacia Duster is the closest equivalent to an affordable offroader than you wouldn't mind ploughing through muddy fields and giving some abuse to!

My dream for the next life,is to have a 4x4 banger in a shed in our high country; like others I couldn't scratch an exy LR 'bush bashing'.

Is the discovery "Sport" on the Discovery platform or the Freelander platform.

Looking quickly it looks like the later, if that is the case I had Freelander 2 loved it but had a catastrophic engine failure just outside of warranty and cost my £2k plus hire cars etc.

To live with it is nice but not really very much room especially the boot. From outside they look big but no more room than my Octavia in fact the Octavia had more rear leg room according to my daughters.

Big problem is how many will take a £30k plus car they own down any decent farm lanes and actually go off road.

I used to as part of my hobby was green lanning and being in farmers fields but I would never take it were my Defender goes easily and without worry of scratches/dents if you get it wrong or go a bit tight.

 

I thought they had developed a new platform for it, as it certainly has a longer wheelbase.

Engine now is the new Jag derived unit so not comparable to the old 2.2.

The interior also is very different to the old FL2 and seems much bigger.

You could say the same about the Yeti, but I've been green laning in mine! And exactly the same comments were made when the Freelander was originally introduced and yet I knew plenty of people who used their's off road, often surprising people on how effective they were.

Standard SE spec with tow bar = £31950!!

Even a Demo model wasn't much cheaper.

 That is a good price and a lot less than my previous A6 Avant! Though as later post they soon go up when the toys are added!

 

But I won't be getting one as that was why I sold the A6 as it was too nice and sat in the drive most of the time!

 

They are nice though. Neighbour works for JLR and has a few weeks old one sitting in the drive. 

Sat in a Range Rover evoke once whe. Looking for a new car for the missus.

Could not get the seat low enough for my head to be not pressed into the roof I'm only 6foot.

And looked underneath the chassis and was amazed by the amount of corrosion on the underneath it was flaking off in chunks of rust.

Don't get me wrong I would love to restore a defender if I had the space but that would have to be on a galvanised chassis and rebuilt from the ground up.

Just would not trust build or mechanical quality from the Land Rover factory also after working with land rovers for 19 years in the army they can do the job but bloody hell they need looking after.

However nice the Discovery might be, I can certainly think of better things to spend the extra £10k on!

Yetigreenline2 - Military land Rovers take an almost unimaginable beating by squaddies, hence needing looking after.

My 21 year old appreciating in value, Defender has had nothing other than cambelt in last 8 years oh and a battery, it sits for literally weeks on my drive and starts every time first go, it is 100% reliable.

Not sure about the build quality of the new more modern Land Rovers though, having suffered myself with one :(

Sat in a Range Rover evoke once whe. Looking for a new car for the missus.

Could not get the seat low enough for my head to be not pressed into the roof I'm only 6foot.

And looked underneath the chassis and was amazed by the amount of corrosion on the underneath it was flaking off in chunks of rust.

Don't get me wrong I would love to restore a defender if I had the space but that would have to be on a galvanised chassis and rebuilt from the ground up.

Just would not trust build or mechanical quality from the Land Rover factory also after working with land rovers for 19 years in the army they can do the job but bloody hell they need looking after.

 

Which has got nothing to do with the Discovery Sport!

 

The Evoke doesn't have a chassis and also isn't built at Solihull.

 

Both of my Freelanders did 100k miles, had no corrosion problems, no VCU problems, and never let me down despite some severe use off-road. The only reason we moved to a Yeti was because the FL2 was too big for our needs and slightly too expensive.

 

I would strongly consider a Disco Sport if I came into some money, but would prefer something slightly smaller, as I don't need a 7 seater.