Land Rover Discovery 2022 review | better than a Defender? | Chasing Cars

We test the updated 2022 Land Rover Discovery D300 to see if this is a great luxury 4WD.
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The Land Rover Discovery is a classic badge in 4WD history. These days, the fifth-generation Discovery 5 is a premium vehicle that sits alongside the Defender in Land Rover’s true 4WD range. It is not an SUV like the Mercedes GLE or BMW X5. But does that mean that you should buy a 2022 Discovery if you are planning to take your family camping? Is the new Land Rover Discovery the real deal?
In today’s episode of Chasing Cars, journalist John Law reviews the 2022 Land Rover Defender D300 which uses an inline six-cylinder Diesel engine.
Find more Land Rover Discovery content over on our website: www.chasingcars.com.au/land-r...
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[@glennhenson4434]

We have owned a discovery since new in 2018. We have a td6 HSE with full offroad drive system and 20 inch wheels. Very capable off road. But still very comfortable and good handling around town with a responsive v6 diesel engine Great load space , better than defender Great fuel economy even when towing our caravan. Really well designed for towing. Got the discovery as it was a better vehicle for our needs rather than a LC200. Reliability has been good. Had an issue with a small fault in paint work and the dealer replaced a drive shiaftt during the last service. Five year warranty helps build confidence that LR are improving reliability over their range.

[@arturo468]

What is the "full off road drive system" on the Discovery?

[@aaronadkins8234]

@@arturo468 he may mean in addition to the standard AWD with locking center diff, the traction control system etc, he may have also optioned the rear diff lock and configurable terrain response.

[@glennhenson4434]

@@aaronadkins8234 yes all of these

[@tempestv8]

Clare de Lune - the sort of music to listen to when wafting around in the Discovery 5 - life is good!

[@stardustbilermam1736]

Do that off-road comparison between the defender and disco. Even better ,add the discovery 4 in to see which is more confident off-road

[@chrispnw2547]

A very nice review. Well done with smooth presentation skills.

[@smule27]

Really smooth presentation

[@MarcoPolo-vb1sw]

John seems more animated and upbeat than usual. I guess who wouldn’t be driving a LR. Great review.

[@mrmacc1312]

I fell in love with these vehicles 3 years ago and I wont have anything else now, value for money is off the charts. I just had an HSE for 3 years and just upgraded to the new SE with more features for less than I paid for the HSE.

[@preetmohantuli1795]

John , pretty awesome review! Keep the videos coming.

[@walricojacobs9584]

Never listen to someone who has a friend as you said. My Father is currently driving Land Rover from 1995 1 Disco 1 3 Defenders old Gen 7 Disco 2 2 Disco 3 1 Disco 4 1 Freelander 2 3 Range Rover Vogue 2 Discovery 5 1 Series One LR Currently the new Defender 110 Only ever had problems with two models Discovery 2, engine broke due to Mapping the engine. Discovery 5 V6 Diesel, engine gave problems, our speculation is due to the large service intervals, with the dirty Air in SA this is not ideal, with the new Defender a arrangement was made so it can be serviced every 10k km Apart from those problems, we never experienced other problems apart from the normal wear and tear problems. These LR actually go offroad, every LR apart from the Freelander has had roof racks on them and offroad tyres and always tackles the off-roading with a breeze. Main thing with a LR is that it is a complex vehicle and service it with a dealer or someone who really knows LR. Like a basic example is the Water pipe on the Disco 4, replace it every 75k km. To replace it in SA is going to cost you about R 1500 but when not replacing it, it can go and cause a lot of engine damage. Lovely vehicles but are expensive to maintain

[@billybob1511]

I'd love to see a review of the cheapest Defender 110 v's the cheapest Discovery ON road and off road both with air suspension please :-)

[@levitrevisan2834]

Hi there Chasing Cars team. I would love to see an updated video on the ev range test with all the new versions of popular evs (latest kona and model 3 for example). Thanks for the awesome videos and have a great day!

[@ianbailey4114]

Also like to see comparisons

[@cwx8]

I'm a huge fan of the oyster two tone interior. It's closer to light gray then white.

[@itsonlystardust]

I remember my ‘94 LR1 what money put she was. I get so tempted by the new LR5 but once bitten twice shy.

[@kazraj3591]

Yeah will let you know down below in the comments thanks for reminding us

[@joelsmith9311]

Would love to see a comparison between a more utilitarian spec Discovery 5, the new Defender 110 and the old Discovery 4. I have a Disco 4 and love it - and still can’t work out if either of the newer vehicles are the right car for me to upgrade to one day. I use mine for EVERYTHING including family duties, hauling luggage, big trips with friends and off-road/camping trips with the family and dogs. We’ve even slept in it and use all 7 seats quite regularly. The only fault I find with it is the turbo-lag from the turbo-diesel engine, plus obviously the technology is a bit dated now. Looking forward to hopefully seeing a comparison video one day!

[@bjs7442]

I had a disco 4 and loved it but didnt buy the disco 5 because of its looks and the boot was not quite big enough for me . Its not as large as a Disco4 for width and front ot back. The defender boot is much smaller, especially width. I bought a Q7 which has been superb but nor wnat a plug in hybrid with decent electric only range and so have ordered the latest Volvo XC90 recharge

[@joelsmith9311]

@@bjs7442 Ah nice, I’ve looked at the Q7 too. Lovely car but it’s not quite off-road capable enough for me. I live in Australia and head off-road periodically, camping and exploring fire-trails etc… it’s tough to replace the Disco 4 it seems. I’m wondering if maybe the new Defender 130 might be the go, it seems to have a bit of extra space?

[@bjs7442]

@@joelsmith9311 Yes I would agree with you a LR is better offroad. I dint think a defender 130 was available. I thought it had been shelved. Perhaps I am wrong or its available in Australia and not the UK

[@joelsmith9311]

@@bjs7442 I think the 130 might be a 2023 model - it's on the Land Rover website (the australian one, at least) and you can even "build your own" with the configurator - but it doesn't yet provide any pricing or delivery dates. There isn't much information and no actual reviews on KZbin yet either. Looks pretty good though, nice proportions with a longer rear over-hang than the 110 so they can fit in 3 extra folding seats in the rear - so it's an 8-seater when all the seats are up. Hopefully they go ahead with it, it's the only car that I can find that might fully replace my Discovery 4.

[@bjs7442]

@@joelsmith9311 Thank you for that

[@jonathanclulow73]

Have owned a Freelander a Freelander 2 and now a Discovery 4. My take on Land Rover reliability for what it’s worth, comes down to maintenance. I have never had any issues, regular maintenance is key. Eachh one have been great workhorses. On the new disco, I’m not sold on the styling yet. It might be a slow burner for me. I’ll stick with the Disco 4 for now.

[@melaneepreston3059]

inherited a 63 series 2A no issues that I witnessed during childhood and still none today

[@Coastmac2001]

The Disco is fine for reasonable off road work but with a decent set of tyres & not 20' wheels with low profiles. The Defender is a ripper off road, but bypass the PPF fitted petrol engines in the Defender or Disco if you plan on serious off road driving as the PPF can suffer serious & expensive damage particularly in deep water crossings . Otherwise they aren't bad vehicles. Just reliability & quality can still be issues.

[@bjcliving386]

aww dude, as much as I will never buy one again, the Disco5 is pretty darn good offroad and on heavy tracks too. Especially with the air suspension.

[@danbskyguy]

Would love to see you to a Disco vs Defender review and towing and off-road reviews!

[@stardustbilermam1736]

Pretty pointless since they both the same thing

[@danbskyguy]

@@stardustbilermam1736 Not really.

[@stardustbilermam1736]

@@danbskyguy explain. Same platform and parts

[@danbskyguy]

@@stardustbilermam1736 Different body, clearances, wheels/tyres etc. Disco is better on road and more well appointed. Be interesting to see just how capable it is off road compared to the Defender.

[@stardustbilermam1736]

@@danbskyguy dude it’s the same thing. Sure the defender has better stats like clearance and not as good on road but really, same thing

[@terryhayes4574]

MY DISCOVERY 4 2015 160000KS A Lot of towing a little bit of off roading no issue's great car

[@gjplantandcraneltd4795]

We have a 2022 model R Dynamic D250 we have had no end of problems with it its been in the garage more times than we have used it the main problem has been the E.B,A and lane assist JLR said we can have a new car and still waiting for it with no build date, JLR have been so unhelpful, My dealer has been so helpful and done everthing they can but there hand are tide due to JLR if any car magazine would be interested in taking this up please feel free to get in touch

[@mikehodge9306]

I recently had a very unpleasant episode with my Disco 5. The steering rack failed whilst cornering causing me to have an RTA. I claimed on my insurance for body and mechanical repair. 14 weeks in to repair and I am still awaiting return. Very long parts wait from LR (steering rack, suspension arms and subframe). Can anyone advise if I have a legitimate claim against LR as I have excess to pay on my insurance claim and the car is now devalued as it has been in an accident. I understand that this fault has been recognised with other LR models that have been recalled but not the Discovery 5.

[@sithabelamandlawenkosiwodu6298]

Traveling in a 2023 model I didn't like the use of plastics where there really should have been leather in a car that costs that much. There's hard scratchy plastic not the premium plastic everywhere in this car. Also the seat coolers only cooled a very small portion of the seats and the AC wasn't the most effective at high fan speed and coldest setting. Other than that it was a lovely car. Good suspension on bad roads.

[@XtremeCoke]

Defender sold me a dream, an adventure dream Discovery sold me a nightmare, an everyday school run

[@sammywairati637]

It's really beautiful, but can you also compare this to a Toyota Prado? I'm looking at that price tag and option, I'm seeing some similarities!

[@lachlanadams1405]

Ill provide a D4 for a comparison

[@testamentSFC]

The soccer ball test is a bit silly to be fair

[@kenrehill8775]

what do you mean by "to be fair"?

[@tusiimebless1530]

Soccer balls? I don't get it. Could you use more practical items that a family would carry for example from a grocery store?

[@Alby911]

Soccer mums

[@ahh1180]

Every time I see John Law I want John More 🐄

[@ericmurungi2701]

Owned one for four years in Kenya. Bought as a First Edition. Tailgate has failed three times. Windows have gone down and not come back up three times and windscreen cracked all by itself. Rear seat base is set too low and seat is too flat. And air conditioning is weak.

[@aaronadkins8234]

I live in Kenya and have a disco 4. It's been remarkably reliable, far better than my brother's prado, which surprised me. With our roads in Kenya, if that list is all you had go wrong in 4 years, I'd say you did well.

[@bjs7442]

I had a discovery 4 . It was very reliable and did 60k miles in it. Needed to replace it and took one look at the Disco 5 and thought it looked like a jelly mould. I did test drive one but the boot space was significantly smaller than the Disco 4 where it mattered. My wifes disabled buggy is not footballs. I bought an Audi Q7 which I have also been very pleased with and much bigger boot than the Disco 5. I looked forward to the Defender arriving , great looking car , more like a disco 4 replacement but oh dear . The boot is even smaller . The Range rover sport and even Range Rover have boots too small for my needs so wont be buying an LR car. It will be a Q7 , or BMW X7 or Volvo XC90

[@mislead1070]

Q7 has more boot space than the Disco 5? But Disco 5 is way bigger than the Q7 dude And are you comparing the boot space with all the seats up or the third row down? And i gues if boot space is the only and most important factor, then the Merc GLS would be a very good option too ✌️

[@bjs7442]

@@mislead1070 Sorry having owned two Q7s and a Disco 4 and test driven a Disco 5 with tape measure you are wrong. I am only interested in the boot space in 5 seater format. Not with the 7 seats. First the Q7 is 100 mm longer than a Disco 5 but more importantly the Q7 boot is 75 mm wider and the disco is measured into apertures. In addition the Q7 boots is 147 mm deeper. With boot capacity there is no industry standard on how it is measured. Land Rover measure capacity up to the roof lining. Audi measure to the window line. The Audi Q7 is significantly larger for boots space and interior room. I almost bought the previous version of the GLs and that has a big boot but the new version does not have a plug in hybrid and is too expensive also for me. I have now ordered a Volvo XC90 recharge which has a genuine 40 mile electric range and even bigger boot than the Q7 .

[@Wellspicedchaffinch]

XC90 is better than Q7 ;) Safer for starters, more comfortable too. Faster in T8 variant I would imagine. More character too. Definitely test drive one :-)

[@bjs7442]

@@Wellspicedchaffinch I took delivery of my T8 recharge and very pleased with it. I would say however that if your a sporty driver the Q7 handling is much better and you can alter the ride height in a Q7 which you cant do on XC90 even with mine which has air suspension. You can lower the boot but that is not the same thing. However I am very pleased with my XC90 and its B&W sound system.

[@gordonclark7632]

Long term reliability?

[@Alby911]

Possibly similar to the rest of the range: not great

[@craigelliott2524]

Yes not interested in the R-Dynamic….. not sure why they even make them… please review an off-road capable one.

[@darrenphillips5874]

I’ve got one , a 2017 , less than 30 k on it , yesterday the glass fell out of the passenger front door, the driver side fell out in December last year. Front windscreen leaked , tailgate and rear light clusters were full of water, steering wheel airbag failed, it’s the worst car I’ve ever had.

[@arturo468]

Over the last 20+ years I've had several D3s & D4s without significant issues. But, the D5 seems to have a dubious build quality and the tailgate design is a completely different subject ...

[@darrenphillips5874]

@@arturo468 there should be 3 screws holding the motor to the door for the glass , but when my mechanic took the door card off , he showed me only 1 had been fitted, a high end vehicle built in a 3rd world country.

[@ashishjoseph2343]

I like the Discovery but it will always be overshadowed by the new Defender. The Range Rover Sport is a better Chelsea tractor too, so justifying buying the disco is very hard.

[@glennhenson4434]

But the RR sport is a lot more expensive

[@edgarchieng2130]

I think you forgot to review, comment and blast the fact that there's no quick release for third row, come on John and Tom be fair on all the 3-row cars you review.

[@davwatto77]

It looks good, it is expensive but when someone is planning to drop $150K on a 4WD pretending to be a city vehicle then I'd suggest this does a much better job than a Land Cruiser. If you actually plan to go off road then the land cruiser is probably going to do a better job (caveat - if there are undulations involved, historically the disco does really well on slippery and loose surfaces) fwiw your comments about ownership vs a friend who has one didn't go unnoticed, this is a great request and differentiates this channel from a channel that refers to itself as a reviewer but doesn't actually drive the cars in question.

[@Aman-sj8ys]

I think people who get the defender thinking it’s an alternative to this will be disappointed. It’s just nowhere as easy to live with as the disco, in terms of suspension, practicality etc. It’s built too much for off road. It’s like driving a lambo everyday, it’s meant for track 90% of the time

[@beaviccoon470]

Is that the new or old defender your talking about?

[@Aman-sj8ys]

@@beaviccoon470 both. Recently lived with a new one for two weeks. Was extremely difficult to live with. Reversing into parkings was an issue as if you came back and wanted to load groceries, you couldn’t open the hinged boot unless you move forward. The road noise was very noticeable and ride comfort dreadful in all honesty. However…I took it off road. Greatest modern off-roader that there is. One of the greatest off-roaders ever. Period. My choice would be a defender 90 for those special trips. And a Discovery/Sport for everyday. Land Rover might seem like between the Sport/base vogue/defender and disco, lines get blurred. But make no mistake. Each vehicle was made to do a very specific task and does it EXTREMELY well.

[@GUYThanatt]

What is your height?

[@jasonyu6649]

9:59 John Law’s 6ft 2in

[@stuarthotchkiss3669]

Since it is mechanically almost identical to the Defender, why the question? It is still over complicated and will be unreliable and crap quality have many design flaws (like exposed junction boxes which will be below the waterline when wading). As for being good off road - try it and find out the truth...

[@mazdar100]

Want to get to know your dealers service manager? Buy this and they’ll be on speed dial….

[@annawilliams9121]

Very scared to buy one even though I love them. Reliability is putting me off

[@mazdar100]

@@annawilliams9121 life’s too short to spend a single second more than you need to in a car dealership. Just not worth it. Brilliant to drive. But it WILL break. And it will cost. And you will argue with your dealership. And you will need to contact Land Rover Australia. Just hop on any Land Rover forum. They tell all.

[@electrikoptik]

Ahh yes Land Rover, a car brand so unreliable that even its CEO acknowledges this.

[@CAPTALISM]

When did the ceo do that?

[@aaronadkins8234]

At least he acknowledged they Co tinue to work on it. Toyota and Toyota fans are turning a blind eye to their short comings. The 300 is so disappointing.

[@Aikynbreusov]

That's Australian dollar...... not USA $$$$$

[@chasingcars]

Correct.

[@sydjaguar]

Definitely not worth the money.

[@hartoz]

I'm surprised this discovery didn't fall to bit during the revue. Way too much money, insane options prices, unreliable.

[@guysoubaya5258]

C'est une très belle voiture. Puis-je avoir les coordonnées de la concession à l'île maurice ? Merci d'avance. Guy.soubaya

[@kenrehill8775]

reliability and service levels are shite, utter shite. I own one and I can't wait to get rid of it.

[@aerotus888]

Hugely unreliable money pits. Massive shame as it's a great car otherwise.

[@leifandersen2756]

A highly unrealiable car still?

[@Sami68161]

Such busy review.didn’t like it at all

[@breeana2879]

It’s so ugly!!! Front looks neat but I hate the back, its’s so boxy and unattractive!

[@brianm3160]

Can you afford it?

[@glennstevenson6242]

Buy a landcruiser.

[@sinthujanyogarasa2287]

Land Cruiser not available in some countries like Uk