India is SUV country.
Our roads, our traffic, our desire for space
and our overarching desire to rule over and
bully everybody else on the road, that makes SUVs perfect for India.
You also like SUVs to announce our presence
and it's a good thing that this Discovery
Sport now draws a lot of the styling inspiration
from the full-size Discovery especially with
these LED headlamps and the way Discovery
is written across this clamshell bonnet. N Now
in this video we're gonna give you five reasons
why SUVs are perfect for India but first, click
the
bell icon, subscribe to the Evo India channel
and once you're done with that, watch till the end of the video because this is not going to be all hunky dory.
We will also tell you why SUVs probably 
 don't make as much sense for you.
We like hanging out, with friends with family.
The more space we have, the happier we Indians
are. So this Discovery Sport, it has got a lot of
space now these seats are wide, they're comfortable,
great driving position, great sight lines. In
the second row, there's a lot of space. You
sit high up so you can see through the windscreen
and there are tons of USB points, so USB here,
USB here, USB, USB and a cigarette lighter.
This is comfortable, lots of shoulder room
and this huge glass roof, it lets a lot of
air into the cabin it does not open so thankfully
you can't stick kids heads out of this. And
finally this third row, well, it is only for
kids or your friends that you do not want
to stay friendly with for any longer. There
really is not much space here. Better, you fold down these seats and load up the car so if
there is all he supermarket shelves are emptied out with this whole coronavirus scare, you
can load up the Discovery sport head to the wild outdoors and camp out for the next week
until things pipe down. I have to get out of here.
Driving in India it's like a lottery isn't it?
You never know when this nice wide dual
carriageway is suddenly going to end in
nothing at all. You never know when there's going to be a speed breaker, when there's going
to be a pothole, and that's why you need a
robust SUV that can take everything in its
stride. This Land Rover Discovery Sport, it
fits the bill perfectly now it doesn't even
have a sport mode it doesn't even pretend
to be very sporty like the X3 or the Q5 so
on this terrain response mode button which, is very unsatisfying little button over here
you get Comfort, you get Eco, and then you get the different Terrain modes. so you get gravel
you get Ruts and you get Sand, or you can just leave it in Auto terrain mode and then you
find the lake, you find a path, you get off
the beaten track and the Land Rover will sort
itself for you. In terms of off-road ability,
this is really really good so you can really
get off the beaten track and discover tracks, discover trails and that is something that
makes owning a Land Rover so satisfying.
The good news is that SUVs are no longer desperately underpowered. Even compact SUVs for that matter,
they're getting turbo petrol motors, not those wheezy 1.2 naturally aspirated motors so they
are quick, they are nice to drive enjoyable
to drive. This Land Rover Discovery Sport, it
gets the BS6 version of the Ingenium diesel, makes 177bhp, 430Nm of torque. Now it's not
really fantastically quick and the throttle
responses are not electric, but for most uses
in India especially, it is perfectly alright.
It can make quick overtaking moves, it can
stay ahead of all kinds of traffic in India.
What it is not is very efficient. I took it
to Goa and it gives around 8-8.5kmpl. That's about it, so it is a little thirsty on fuel
and it is not very silent, but really for India
for most of our conditions it really suits
the bill perfectly. It gets a 9 speed automatic gearbox activated by this pistol grip. No longer
do you get that rotary dial that whirs up from the centre. This gearbox, I think it has too
many gears in the box so it is left hunting
for gears at times and sometimes it does
activate with a thud, but honestly for most
uses, especially when you're cruising like
this on a highway it works perfectly well.
It is a very relaxing and quick way to do
distances in.
It seems weird to be recommending an SUV just   because you sit high up but it is true because
in India, you need every advantage on your side. Sitting high up like I am right now in
this Discovery Sport, it gives me a better
view of the road ahead, I can see who's coming
from the wrong side I can see the bike that is veering across right in front of me, I can
see people cutting across and this gives 
me time to react in advance, and not react like
right over there, right immediately. So that
gives you that factor of safety that makes
driving in India all the more relaxed and
all the more stress-free. Now while this Discovery
Sport, it looks like a mere facelift, it actually has a new platform. This is JLRs new premium
transverse architecture and it has space for electrified powertrains.
This diesel obviously is not electrified and
the handling, it's not electric now it does
not have the immediacy of say the BMW
X3 or even the Volvo, the XC60. The steering
it is relaxed it is relaxed in terms of its
gearing, there's not too much in the way of
feel, the ride quality is very good but the
handling it is relaxed so there is a fair
bit and noticeable amount of body roll which
is exaggerated because you're sitting high
up and quick direction changes, that actually
puts the card off so it does feel a bit cumbersome
when you are really going through quick switchbacks.
But then again the Land Rover is something
that you actually cruise in. You don't hustle it this does not like to be hustled. And when
you're cruising, when you're taking things
at a relaxed pace, which is actually not really
relaxed, this Land Rover feels really good.
In fact the times when it does feel cumbersome
is times when you really should be taking
it a little bit easy. Those are times when
you're driving a little too fast for Indian
roads and highways.
Most of all SUVs get you respect on the highway you come up to a dinky hatchback flash your lights,
and he will get out of the way. In the city
nobody's going to jump in front of you, trucks
and buses, they give you way and that means after a 10-12 hour long drive you will emerge
from the Discovery Sport feeling much, much fresher than you would if you were driving
a regular car. But then again I'd tell you
they will not be all goody-goody and the downside
is that SUVs are pricey. Now compact SUVs, what are they? They're nothing but hatchbacks with
jacked up ride height but manufacturers charge 20-25 per cent more than those hatchbacks. Same with
the Discovery Sport. The R Dynamic trim costs 60.9 lakh rupees ex-showroom. It is pricey,
but then again the good things in life do
not come cheap.
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