Being a Land Rover, the Discovery Sport has a reputation to maintain, so it must be capable off the pavement too. It comes standard with a Haldex all-wheel drive system with driver-selectable driving ‘Terrain Response’ modes for different kinds of road surfaces: normal, grass/gravel/snow, mud ruts, and sand. Each of these modes automatically adjusts the throttle, transmission, steering and centre coupling and electronic braking, traction and stability control settings to maximize traction and stability. On an empty parking lot covered in loose gravel I tried the grass/gravel/snow setting. I found that it minimized wheel spin when accelerating and kept the vehicle from losing control while I deliberately tried to induce understeer and oversteer by driving around in tight circles. That could be a dent-saving safety feature on an icy road next winter. It should also be noted that the Discovery Sport has 212 mm (8.3 in.) of ground clearance, short front and rear overhangs, front and rear protective undershields, and a reported 600 mm (2.0 ft.) fording depth.

The standard all-wheel drive system can be upgraded to an optional Intelligent Dynamics Package ($1,900) which automatically disconnects drive power to the rear wheels when it’s not needed so that the vehicle runs in front-wheel drive only in order to maximize fuel economy. If it senses all-wheel drive is needed, it automatically reconnects the driveline within 300 milliseconds. Land Rover doesn’t say how much better fuel economy would be, but I doubt it would be enough to justify the extra $1,900 cost.

Though it doesn’t have a low range, the Discovery Sport’s transmission’s first gear is a very low gear ratio that helps when crawling up or down hills. Land Rover says it can scale a 45-degree incline. When driving down a steep, slippery hill, the driver can activate Hill Descent Control, which uses engine torque and braking to keep the vehicle from ‘running away’ without the driver needing to touch the brakes. I tried it on a steep downhill section and while it does slow the vehicle, the speed was a little too quick for my liking.

As a luxury vehicle, the Discovery Sport’s cabin is well equipped. The base SE model (like our test vehicle) has standard cloth/leather seats (most competitors have standard leatherette upholstery) while HSE and HSE Luxury trims have standard leather upholstery. Both front seats have 8-way power adjustments including height, recline and lumbar adjusters but it’s disappointing that SE models do not have standard heated seats (they are available as part of a $1,000 option package along with heated steering wheel and heated windscreen). And I didn’t see memory seats on the option list.

Despite its high ground clearance, the Discovery Sport is easy to get in and out of. The driver sits up high with good visibility and there’s a sliding centre armrest to rest your right forearm. With a tall roof and fairly long wheelbase of 2,741 m, the Discovery Sport’s cabin has plenty of headroom and legroom for front and rear occupants. As a bonus, the individual 60/40 rear seat sections will slide fore and aft up to 160 mm to increase rear legroom or increase cargo space, as the case may be. Though the second-row seats are split 60/40, the seatbacks are split in a 40/20/40 ratio, allowing a fold-down centre section for longer items and two seats on either side. For larger families, an optional 5+2 Seating Package ($1,900) adds a two-person third-row seat which can be accessed from either side by sliding and reclining the second row seats. Meant for children, these third row seats are have minimal legroom and are not suitable for child seats or booster seats.

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