Its so dark in Norfolk at half past six on a January morning that I very nearly plough straight into the River Born trying to park. On the one hand I’m in the new Discovery Sport, so there’s a good chance it wouldn’t have noticed, Land Rover’s off-road tech being what it is. On the other, this isn’t exactly the kind of test we had in mind for the new Land Rover’s first foray into the ultra-competitive mid-size SUV mêlée – Mark Walton has already driven it up an Icelandic glacier for CAR, after all.
Instead we’ve got something tougher in mind: a four-way, on-road dogfight against some of the sector’s best and most interesting rivals, played out against a backdrop that’s part countryside, part seaside, all British. Is the Discovery Sport really a credit to the utilitarian panache of the Discovery name? Or is this latest Son of Freelander going to find itself feeling exposed in the face of such scrutiny, like some poor soul who’s lost grip of their towel while changing their trunks on a crowded beach.
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