2012 Land Rover Discovery 4 tweaks revealed

2012 Land Rover Discovery 4 - all round good tweaking

You’ve got to go forward, or you’re already going back. Or so the saying goes. Which is no doubt why Land Rover has managed to send us a 2,750 word press release to tell us all the changes they have wrought to the 2012 Discovery 4.

Let’s try and be a little more succinct.

The major changes are a few more horses – up from 245bhp to 256bhp – and a better gearbox. But actually, beyond the seemingly minor changes, the Discovery 4 just becomes an even better vehicle.

The extra power and 8-speed auto – the same box as other Land Rovers and Jaguars have been getting – makes a real difference to the relaxed feel Land Rovers are already so good at.

Not only do the almost seamless changes make for very relaxed on-road manners, the new box also manages – despite the small hike in power – to improve economy too.

You’ll now average 32.1mpg and churn out 230g/km of Co2, an improvement on the current 25.2mpg and 244g/km. That the new figures aren’t much different to the 4.4 litre TDV8 Range Rover has much to do with the Disco weighing about the same as one of Saturn’s moons.

Not that it really makes any difference to the Disco experience, but you will now also get the rotary gear knob that comes as standard in all the 8-speed auto ‘box cars and a set of flappy paddles.

Extra kit comes in the form of new alloy designs, better sound and improved SatNav. Better options come in the form of  Vision Assist which throws in Adaptive Xenons with cornering, High Beam assist and the clever all-round cameras Land Rover do so well. There’s also Tow Assist and Hitch Assist. You can work out what they do.

Everything else get tweaked to be just that bit better, from the optional rear entertainment to the DPF; from the tweaked aerodynamics to reduced torque converter slip. All round solid changes to make an exceptional vehicle – perhaps our favourite Land Rover – even better.

Colin Green, Land Rover MD, said of the 2012 Disco 4:

“Improved performance, lower CO2 emissions and enhanced design and equipment levels, consolidate the Discovery 4′s position as the most capable and versatile all-purpose vehicle on and off the road today. The Discovery 4 is quite simply in a class of its own.”

And, for once, a car maker’s hyperbole is nothing more than a statement of fact.

*manufacturer’s estimate

By Cars UK