The wife and I are looking to buy either a 2020 Discovery Sport or 2020 Defender. When using the build feature on the landroverusa website the prices are somewhat close when trying to include the same features. Both involve a bit of a wait so there is no hurry in making a decision. This will be our first Land Rover but we have always liked the style. It will be daily driver with off road use being limited to beach and dirt roads, no rock crawling likely.

Specific builds from the website:

2020 LR Discovery Sport: https://build.landrover/B44F9FB8

2020 LR Defender: https://build.landrover/348BF927

Which would you buy and why?

(Also posted in the Discovery Sport forum)

 

Cool! We're both new here, so nice to meet someone else moving to LR. Although I find nothing wrong with the Disc, I've admired the Defender for most of my life. In fact, it's really the only SUV I've liked over the years. My wife is in her second BMW X3, but I've only driven the 3 or 4 series for the past 15 years. With the Defender coming back to the US, I feel compelled to get one.

For me, Defender has a perfect mix of rugged and refined, which complements my personality. I like the masculine look with a touch of class and charm. The Disc just gives me the vibes of a Range Rover, even though I know it has good off-road chops, but it seems more at home in the burbs and light trails where it won't get all scratched up. Nothing wrong with that at all, but for our needs a rugged first trail runner that still looks decent in a suit was what I wanted.

I'll be getting the 90 when it's available with the fabric top, but I do like your builds.

 

I would opt for the Defender. It leverages the Range Rover Sport and Discovery 5 platform, which in my experience drives and rides a lot better than the Discovery Sports I have driven.

See if you can do some extensive test drives in both. A bit surprised to hear they price the same, expect the Defender to be more pricey.

 

The Defender is more expensive but it includes a lot of features we like as standard features. Adding those options to the Discovery Sport brings the price up much closer.

 

I would definitely lean towards the Defender then. I have not test driven one, but given the underpinnings would expect a ride similar to the D5 which is a lot better than the Discovery Sport.

 

That is the reason for the delay in decision making. We have to wait for them to actually get here to take out for a ride. Land Rover Orlando does not have any idea when either vehicle will be physically here to take for a ride. The the long wait between ordering and deliver after we decide.

 

I think once you see them in person you will notice the Defender is much larger than the Discovery Sport.

 

Yes. The specs are available online and it seems it is quite a bit bigger in all dimensions.

 

If you could use the extra size and think you may want to play in the woods a bit, the Defender not only seems like it is better all around, but at the end of the day, its a Defender. The legendary badge and chops admittedly offer a higher degree of self satisfaction, which; lets face it, at this price point, is a thing.

Knowing that you haven't compromised at all could give some peace of mind over the long run.

I say all of this in theory today, as I can't wait until some true reviews and perhaps Hammond, Clarkson, and May take the truck through it's paces in a return to Patagonia or Greenland, etc.