Our Discovery Sport didn’t let us down towing. We’ve just returned from a 1,500 mile trip, towing a 3,044lb single axle trailer loaded with about 300lbs of gear while hauling four passengers in the Discovery Sport.



We traveled over various flat and hilly terrains from just above sea level up to around 10,000 feet in elevation. The 9 speed transmission and the 2.0L Eco-Boost outperformed our expectations. We tackled steep grades leaving similar size trailers being towed by full and midsized V-6 & V-8 trucks in the dust. We easily maintained a steady 60 to 70mph keeping the RPM’s in the 2k-3k range going up steep grades.

The 9 speed transmission was simply amazing under load. We only needed to use the command shift paddles twice for passing up steep grades. Our 9 speed transmission knew exactly what gear it needed to be in; it didn’t hunt or continually up and down shift to maintain a constant speed like what we’ve seen from other vehicle manufactures.

The 2.0L Eco-Boost preformed exceptionally well and never even slightly hinted at overheating but with great power comes a cost; expect your gas mileage to be cut by half while towing (Yes, half). Please keep in mind our total load including the 4 passengers in the vehicle came to just under 4,000lbs so with that said let’s cut to the chase.

The first leg of our trip was entirely uphill at freeway speeds of 60-70mph; depending on the how steep the grade we were seeing 9 to 17mpg on average. After unhooking the trailer and driving around at the 8,000ft to 10,000ft elevation level our gas mileage went back up to around 28mpg. The trip back was almost entirely downhill at freeway speeds of 60-70mph which helped to slightly increase the mileage up to the 13 to 17mpg range. Keep it at 55mph or under and you will see even more of an increase in mileage.

We found a hidden camera feature not mentioned in our Vision Assist Package instructions or by the dealer. It lets you have access to your blind spot camera view(not the cameras pointing down under the mirrors at the front tires).
Set up your trailer measurements and complete all the steps for adding a new trailer to your system. Once that is done hit your camera view button; select the trailer icon at the bottom of the screen and that will display your standard rear camera view. Now while on that screen (rear view- see picture) you will see a camera icon again at the bottom center (see picture) when you hit that, it will give you access to your blind spot monitor cameras hidden inside your mirrors on another pop up screen.



Select the small trailer icons on the bottom of the pop up screen and you’re done! Now every time you hit your trailer view button on the first screen it will automatically pull up your side blind spot cameras without any extra steps! This allows you to see your rear car tires & trailer tires (both sides) for use when parking/driving/cornering. (see pictures)

 

Awesome to hear! I do realize that towing with small forced induction engines pay the price on mpgs. I have a 4500lb boat and we've towed it with my buddy's F150 EcoBoost over 300 miles, east/west with crosswinds and hills. He got 8 mpg!!!! My HEMI powered RAM gets 14 mpg towing on the same trip. The advantages of the RAM are twofold. #1 Displacement. #2 RAM has and 8 speed vs the Fords 6 speed.
However, the mileage you reported seems VERY respectable. Better than I would have figured when hauling 4k lbs.
I'm very encouraged by your report. Our max payload for the Disco will be at least 1k lbs less.
I'm excited!

I set up a dummy trailer preset and can now access that rear blind spot camera view. I'm a very experienced trailer puller but that view will still come in very handy at times.

Love the little camper trailer BTW.

 

We just got our HSE Sport two weeks ago. Our dealership claims that there is no cargo cover available for this model?

What dealership can we contact to order one?

Thanks!

 

The cargo cover does indeed exist but please note they are not all the same and they no longer come as standard equipment on a new vehicle. What we’ve found is the first few Discovery Sports delivered from the factory (before the pre-launch edition like ours) had the cargo cover listed as included along with a first scheduled maintance on the Monroney sticker (window sticker) under the Security section and Land Rover has since discontinued offering them as included items.

I would recommend you call Chris in the parts department at Niello Land Rover of Rocklin, CA - Direct Line: (916)-632-3291. He will look the cover up using your VIN number and get you the proper color and size for your model. The part number depends on your seat configuration (5 or 7), options, and interior color. FYI - They have the best prices on OEM parts and accessories that we have found anywhere.

 

So in finalizing our our purchase for our now 2016 Discovery Sport HSE, we found the MSRP jumped up more than we expected, and found the largest single item is that the 19" Split Spoke Wheels, that were standard as part of the HSE & HSE-Lux packages in 2015, and still are when you use the Land Rover USA configuration tool, are now (for 2016) a $1500 option, with 18" wheels being standard.

Our dealer seemed to overlook telling us this, and told me to raise my complaint to Land Rover NA, I did call LRNA and they let me know that Corporate sent a notice to all dealers in May 2015, advising them of this change for 2016 orders. I suggested to LRNA that they need to update their on-line presentation of this truck, as they continue to mis-lead buyers; of course the response is "thanks, i will tell a supervisor". As to my truck its finger pointing this with LRNA saying its a Dealer problem, and the Dealer saying its a LRNA concern.

Probably not walking away on from the purchase on this one item, just leaves an unpleasant feel to the beginning of our LR ownership relationship. Truck is in, with Tow package and roof rails being installed at dealer this week, should pick it up next Monday.

 

Wonder what the 20's would be with the new pricing, ours "were" $1,500. We took our 2015 itemized invoice/build sheet and compared it to Land Rovers on-line configuration tool (as it’s currently set up 8-25-15). If we ordered our 2015 build in a 2016 version (as priced today) it would actually be $213 less than our 2015 model but it no longer comes with a load space cover or the 1st scheduled maintenance. The 2016 includes the In-Control Wi-Fi Router that didn’t make it into our build, so you might consider it a trade off price wise.
What we are still wondering about is the engine, because it’s not clear on the Land Rover website. Does the 2016 Discovery Sport still come with the 2L turbocharged EcoBoost engine or will it have Land Rover’s 2L turbocharged Ingenium motor?
Make sure to check your Monroney sticker and compare it to the price the dealer charged you for your options.

 

Looking for what type of residual and money factor I should expect

10K miles / 48 months

 

Hey HSE LUX. We went and looked at a couple of Rpods today. I think we are going to abandon our plans to buy a couple of PWCs and get one of those trailers instead! We are already planning trips!

 

California HSE owners-

Did the dealership include a front license plate bracket? We didn't receive one. How did you mount it?


Thanks,

Ken

 

Sorry, can’t give you any insight since we’ve never leased but we can say our 2010 Range Rover Sport retained value at the time of its sale.