SPY PICS: Land Rover Discovery Sport
Freelander replacement's design comes into focus; mimics Range Rover headlightsMore spy photos of the 2015 Land Rover Discovery Sport have emerged, a new premium compact SUV that will replace the ageing Freelander for the rapidly expanding British brand.
This time the new Discovery Sport SUV has been spied at the automotive world's favourite 20.8km long test track, the Nurburgring, undergoing chassis development in order to live up to its 'Sport' nameplate.
Wearing Pirelli Scorpion tyres, the new Disco Sport will be a less rugged version of the next-generation Discovery and despite the camouflage it's clear the car is almost ready to go: the tapered roofline, upright tailgate and nuggety proportions providing clues as to the final design.
Automedia spy photographers got up close and personal with the new model while it was parked, revealing the headlight design will adhere to the brand's current swept-back motif.
Like the current generation big-daddy Range Rover, the Disco Sport's headlights wrap around into the cars flanks, and while semi-circular LED brake lights can be glimpsed, their overall design is more difficult to make out.
Tellingly, the new entry-level Land Rover can be seen next to a BMW X5, which will be one of the new Discovery Sport's chief rivals, and has no doubt been benchmarked against the German car-maker's popular premium compact SUV.
The new Discovery Sport name was officially confirmed in mid-April at the 2014 New York motor show by Land Rover design supremo Gerry McGovern, and the car seen testing here is expected to be stripped of its camouflage soon, ahead of a 2015 on-sale date.
The new Disco Sport will not take advantage of the weight-saving aluminium chassis architecture used on its Range Rover cousins, and it's not yet clear what platform will underpin the new Discovery vehicle family, although a modified version of the Evoque's platform is possible.
Engine options are also unknown but, again, might parallel the Evoque's, with four-cylinder turbo-diesel and turbo-petrol powerplants.
After the Sport has been introduced, the rugged Land Rover Discovery will be next in line, expected to arrive in 2016.
– with Automedia
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