It Is surprising what you can find deep inside a modern car’s on-board computer system, and Land Rover’s handsome Discovery Sport is a good example.
This family all-rounder made the perfect inter-city travel companion for a weekend trip from London to Cambridge via the M11, with its combination of composed highspeed ride, easy-on-the-ear acoustics and civilised two-litre diesel engine.
Like most UK cities, Cambridge has its share of traffic problems, which meant there was time to sit in queues and dabble with the computer menu.
I discovered the Discovery’s Eco programme that analyses your driving, providing a historical or running commentary. You can obtain eco scores for braking, accelerating and ‘speed and engine’, in detail. It told me that on my best journey to date, I attained 98 per cent, while my worst had been 88 per cent. On the trip to Cambridge, with its mix of motorway and city roads, I averaged 34.5mpg.
Other ‘pages’ advise on improving your score with gentler acceleration and braking, better journey planning and so on. It helped pass the time and made me think about the merits of driving versus going by train, which we’d considered. I reckon that driving was marginally quicker, when considering walking to and from train stations at either end or getting taxis.
By keeping an eye on consumption with eco programmes, you really can cut travelling costs. The diesel bill for that 130-mile round trip was £23.14 (£11.57 per person), excluding general running costs. Not bad for two people to travel in supreme comfort, door to door, with their luggage.
Travelling by train (excluding a taxi to our hotel) would have cost £37. But then, I wouldn’t have found that eco meter...
Land Rover Discovery Sport HSE
Top speed: 117 mph;
0-60 mph: 8.4 secs;
MPG (combined, claimed): 53.3;
Emissions: 139 g/km;
Price: £39,400
