First impressions from perspective of a parent of young kids - 3L TD6 HSE

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Mack247
Posts: 19
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2017 9:14 am

Post by Mack247 »

Picked up the car on Sunday. Some very early first impressions, with just 50 miles done.

Front seats are very comfortable, memory function works great and very simple to use. Driving position and view also feels very good, as long as the middle row headrest is in it's down position (anybody know if this can be removed completely?).

Second row of seats I found to be nowhere near as good as I hoped. We had a VW Tiguan previously, which had a lot more legroom than the Disco 5 does. The seats are extremely short and not very high off the floor compared to the VW, making them far more suitable for kids than for adults.

I have a rear facing toddler seat behind the drivers seat and even with the rear seats back as far as they go, I have to keep the driver seat more forward than I would like (and I'm just 5'11) in order to stop the child seat digging into the soft plastic on the back of the drivers seat, which is already permanently dented before even driving off the forecourt.

With two child seats in place (outer seats only as middle seat does not have isofix), even a very slight person would be very uncomfortable in the middle seat - we also found this with the VW - the Disco does not appear to add any additional width to the middle seat - though the flatter transmission tunnel does make things a bit easier.

Both outer seats have shoulder level buttons which appear to be for automatically folding the seats down - presumably to allow third row access. I already have the child seats isofixed to those seats so had a bit of scare when the seat started trying to fold itself down with them in place. Not sure if they would have stopped themselves before damage was done but I managed to get them back up. I'm hoping this does not work on the move as the buttons are a little too accessible to the children.

Third row. I tested these just briefly but remembered being impressed with them when I first viewed the car. For now our access will be restricted to boot only as uninstalling and reinstalling the child seats is a chore and in most instances we will probably use just one of the third row seats at a time.

I am pretty tech savy but the Sat Nav has been incredibly frustrating. Perhaps I have just been a bit too eager to get on with using it but it's not very intuitive at all. I will reserve further judgement until after I have used it more, but I also found sometimes I was getting directions on my middle dial while at other times it was just showing what radio station I was listening to. Had a brief look at the inControl app but was not impressed to see you are restricted to certain apps - it's disappointing that car firms are still trying to control all of this - they need to make these units fully compatible with phones. It doesn't feel good when you've paid over £60k for a new car that you're still having to use Google maps through your phone to get from A to B quickest, rather than putting faith in the car makers system (an important factor when you live inside the M25).

Storage is incredible - lots of little and large spaces to fill with clutter - this will be very useful.

The pano roofs are excellent, I would never want to be without these again and the kids love them.

I'm not sure whether the HSE comes with foot waving technology to open the boot but I've tried it a few times and nothing happens. When you open the boot it lifts itself - I'm hoping there is some sort of sensor to stop this hitting objects above - especially in underground or covered car parks, as the opening area is very high and it wasn't clear to me how you would only partially open it in such a situation. Any tips on that welcome. Also when you close it, I am wondering what happens if there is an obstruction, like a person underneath or if there is something in the boot preventing the folding shelf from being brought back upright.

The shelf that comes out the back is brilliant. It feels solid and acts as a very useful lip for loading and unloading, and is a good place to sit children if you're assembling buggies etc., and also good place for them to sit to have dirty shoes removed before being put into the car, and the way the boot opens it also acts as a rain cover - fantastic.

To drive the car feels more agile than I was expecting. Not as agile as a Q7 but didn't feel too far behind and it is a world away from the Disco 4. The dealer kept telling me how it drives same as a full RR, but I haven't driven one of those so can't make that comparison. The engine suits the car, though it is not as smooth as the Audi with power delivery and there is still a noticeable turbo lag. I suspect the new Ingenium unit to replace this will be released imminently. Refinement is excellent.

Meridian radio sounds very good.

Surround camera. This is good, but not as good as I hoped. The overhead view is most useful, but the rear camera view makes it look like you are reversing out through a space barely wider than the car, yet if you look in your mirrors you have feet of room each side. My old Jaguar XF rear camera is far superior.

Overall very happy. The car from the front and side looks stunning imo, the rear end not so much, but the offset reg I don't mind as it helps distinguish it from the Sport, which looks similar to the untrained eye, even though it's a lot smaller.

Bungle
Posts: 29
Joined: Fri May 05, 2017 6:32 pm

Post by Bungle »

Good write up, thanks for taking the time. I've had mine a week and all is good so far, I'll get back with my thoughts over the next couple of weeks.

B
3.0 SE, Santorini Black, 20" 5 Split-Spoke 'Style 5011', Electric Sunroof (tilt/slide front glass) with fixed rear glass pano (Including Power Blinds), Privacy Glass, HUD, rear view camera. Delivered Jul 17.
jimbg
Posts: 303
Joined: Fri May 19, 2017 8:30 am

Post by jimbg »

Good write up, I use the InControl Route Planner to set up destinations.

https://landrover.here.com/#home/0
Nigelm
Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Apr 29, 2017 11:04 am

Post by Nigelm »

We picked our td6 Hse lux, silicon silver, 360 surround, black gloss roof rails, side steps, we absolutely love it no nigly bits at all, we owned a Bmw 330 before the wife handles it superbly, fantastic finish all round 2 weeks in and in love with it, so if anyone out there are thinking about owning one don't think just do.
Mack247
Posts: 19
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2017 9:14 am

Post by Mack247 »

Also forgot to add that I have the fixed step and I felt it's a must have, especially if you have young children.

And for any London buyers, the dealer I used was an absolute pleasure and comes very highly recommended - please DM me if you would like additional information as I would very pass their details on to you, and in particular the salesman I dealt with. 10/10
rogersmj
Posts: 79
Joined: Wed Aug 30, 2017 10:12 am

Post by rogersmj »

Hi all,

I've had my 3.0L TD6 HSE for 3 months now, the perfect car for a family with 5 kids! Plus we have 3 horse, so it effortlessly pulls two of them in a horse box!

I had a Discovery 4 HSE before, and that was a lovely car too. The jury is still out when it comes to the rear of the Discovery 5, can't say I like it, can't say I don't - Definitely different to anything else out there!

I took a total of 7 people up to the Insomnia61 gaming event at the NEC, Birmingham over the bank holiday weekend - Me and 6 teenagers all around 6 foot! No other car, i'm sure could do that in comfort! I did try out the Q7 a while back, especially as it always seems to beat the Discovery's in the reviews online, but I wasn't that impressed. A bit like driving a bus was my description of it! But thats only my view.

If theres anything I could find to moan about the car, i'd probably say that the leather is a nightmare to clean, especially when the kids get food into the holes in the leather! Spent a large amount of time picking it out of the holes with a pin! lol
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