Land Rover is due to unveil their 5th generation Discovery at the 2016 Paris Motor Show toward the very tail of September, but prior to that the British marque has released a couple of teaser images that give us at least some idea about what to expect.
To Land Rover’s credit, the images they did release do not fall into the annoyingly dimly lit category. We see the hefty SUVs front fascia quite clearly. Unfortunately, that’s the only view we’re given (for now).
The all-new Discovery, previewed here in a darker orange shade, gains the narrow grille and headlamp cluster that’s very similar to the current Range Rover Sport. Below, a vertical air intake on each side flanks a rather substantial but subdued maw which then tapers into the wide front skid plate. That bumper, as is the way with all current Land Rover cars, is huge.
The connection to the Range Rover Sport continues to the large SUV’s flanks as well, as the lower corners of the body rounds inward to make the tyres appear protrusive and the stance more aggressive. It certainly is a departure from the boxy designs of this Discovery’s predecessors.
Gerry McGovern, Land Rover’s Chief Design Officer said: “New Discovery redefines the large SUV. Land Rover’s design and engineering teams have revolutionised the Discovery DNA to create a highly desirable, extremely versatile and hugely capable premium SUV.”
However, despite Land Rovers apparent attempts to make this evolution more streamlined and less angular, spy photographs seen of the all-new Discovery suggest that the car’s third row bump will nonetheless return and so too will the asymmetrical two-piece tail gate.
Powertrain specifications are a little murky as of now but we expect JLR’s family of Ingenium engines to make themselves very pronounced in the new Discovery 5. The same versatile and powerful 2.0-litre turbodiesel that recently became available to the Discovery Sport should make up the bulk of the new SUV’s first few variant tiers, at least.
Others have reported that the new Discovery will also be gaining an off-road focused SVX variant made by JLR’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) unit.
We’ll have more on the all-new premium SUV as it draw closer to its world premiere at the Paris Motor Show.
For more on Land Rover vehicles, including pricing and specifications, check out our Showroom.
