It’s probably fair to say the legendary Land Rover Discovery hasn’t met with entirely universal acclaim since it was totally redesigned last year. While the company’s Range Rover brand can’t seem to do anything wrong at the moment, the Land Rover side of the business could do with a boost. And that’s exactly what the Discovery is getting with the announcement of a new all-terrain model at the Frankfurt IAA motor show, which will be the first model in the Land Rover range to utilize the “SVX” moniker.
The Discovery SVX will be the new flagship model in the lineup, but at the Frankfurt show it has also been announced there will now be a new 2.0-liter gas engine for the regular S, SE, HSE and HSE Luxury variants.
It wasn’t too long ago you couldn’t even buy a Land Rover model with a gas engine in the UK, but the Discovery SVX is a prime example of how the industry’s attitude to diesel is changing as it will only be available with Jaguar Land Rover’s 5.0-litre supercharged V-8 petrol engine. It’s being tuned to develop an extremely useful 525 PS and 625 Nm of torque, and there are also several functional modifications to the suspension to increase driver confidence even further when tackling the toughest of off-road terrains.
There are plenty of other technological upgrades to both the hardware and software of the new Discovery SVX, but aesthetics haven’t been ignored either. To complement the very special credentials of the SVX, the designers have referenced a number of features of iconic Discovery off-road challenge vehicles of the past, including those used for Camel Trophy and G4 Challenge events. The SVX therefore has a distinctive, aggressive and purposeful appearance to both the exterior and interior.
For further evidence of the swift decline of diesel power, Discovery will now be available with the company’s efficient 300 horsepower four-cylinder Ingenium petrol engine. The advanced unit uses Continuously Variable Valve Lift (CVVL) technology for maximum efficiency, along with a twin-scroll turbocharger with ceramic bearings for smooth responses and to reduce friction. The new engine for the Discovery puts out an impressive 400Nm of torque and CO2 emissions from 222g/km.
Just in case you’re not totally convinced as to how special the new SVX model will be, Land Rover wants you to know Discovery SVX is to be hand-assembled by expert craftsmen at the SVO Technical Centre in the UK, with production set to begin in 2018.