Automakers have found ways to save weight and produce vehicles that are more powerful and more efficient over the past several years. Most of the weight savings comes from either using smaller engines with turbocharging or by using lighter weight but stronger materials to get the job done. Some have even employed both to ensure they have vehicles that are light and powerful to have a smaller load on the engine when hauling around the massive machinery that’s been made. Recently Land Rover showed up at the Paris Motor Show to give us a look at what the new Discovery will be.
The Discovery is a name we’ve known for a while and will replace the LR4 that leaves the market for good. The Discovery no longer will have a boxy design and will instead carry a more streamlined appearance for us to admire. The big difference in this new Discovery over the last one is the fact that it now weighs in at 1,000 pounds less than the outgoing LR4 and uses lightweight aluminum in order to have this weight savings. this makes the new Discovery an SUV that will feel lighter in your hands when driving.
Normally you would think of a Land Rover as a brand that uses some of the largest engines, but with a lighter build they have been able to pull excellent power out of smaller engines. I doesn’t hurt that these engines benefit from supercharging and turbocharging to give you more power as well. The powertrains will included a 3.0-liter supercharged V6 that brings in 340 horsepower and 332 lb.-ft. of torque while the other engine will be a 3.0-liter turbocharged diesel V6 model that carries 254 horsepower and 443 lb.-ft. of torque. These two will both be mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission to have the smooth shifting you would expect.
The new Discovery will have three rows of seats but will have the industry’s first remote folding system. This seat folding system will allow you to configure the seats via a touchscreen in the rear of the vehicle or by using an app on your smartphone. As you might expect on a vehicle from Land Rover, all three rows of seats can be had with heating to give you a more comfortable ride and the first two rows are offered with cooling features as well.
The expected arrival time for this new SUV is in the middle of next year as a 2018 model. The starting price is expected to be in the neighborhood of $50,000, which isn’t bad for a vehicle like this one. The new Discovery from Land Rover fills a spot that’s been admired for many years and will now be the large and admirable SUV that you want to drive more often with the lighter weight and the excellent power that comes from the new pair of engines. Look for more news to come on this SUV as we get closer to its release date.
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