@Tucker Woods, when you get more time with your new defender, can you give a comparison/review against the disco? in terms of size, power, handling, tech, usable storage, build quality, etc... i haven't test driven or spent any length of time in a new defender yet (just poked around a showroom model when my disco was in for service). thanks!

 

Hi Angeiboing,

Here is the comparison/review that you requested of the Disco compared to the Defender:

1) I have had the Defender for about 6 weeks now. I absolutely love the styling. It looks great in photos but even better in person. You get all sorts of looks and thumbs up when driving; people will talk to you when filling up at the gas station—almost like driving an exotic care. If you miss the boxy look of the old Discovery/LR4, then this vehicle may appeal to you.

2) I like the way that it drives/handles. It feels more firmly planted on the road than the Discovery 5--hugs the corners better. The engines sounds almost like an 8 cylinder rather than a 6 cylinder. I have the larger engine (P400) and it has great acceleration.

3) Because this is a first year model, I was expecting a few electronic gremlins and there definitely are. Initially, SiriusXM would die on me a couple times a week. You can fix the dead Sirius with a radio reboot--you just hold down the radio power button for about 30 seconds. It’s a tad annoying because you then have to reprogram all your favorite stations after the reboot (but at least you don’t have to drive to the dealer to fix).

4) Sometimes the clock will be inaccurate for the first 5 minutes of your drive and then it will display the correct time. And sometimes the time on the instrument panel is different than the time on the infotainment screen (for the first 5 mins of the driver). According to their brochure and articles I have read, there are 2 LTE modems in the vehicle that support over-the-air updates, so I hope these various electronic bugs will be fixed remotely w/o a trip to the dealer. In terms of tech, according to various articles I have read, it is the only vehicle on the road at this time that has 2 modems. (Not even the Tesla has 2 modems...so some OTA updates have to occur on overnight if just 1 modem.)

5) I got a low coolant level warning on my second day. When the engine was hot, it was indeed at the low level marking, but after letting it cool off for 90 minutes, it was at its max level. I basically just added a tablespoon of coolant and I no longer get the low level warning.

6) Occasionally I will get a warning about the radar system or something not working, but it goes away after restarting the car or after driving for a few mins.

7) There are some nice features that are defaulted off. For example, on my Disco and on my previous Range Rover Sport, auto high beam assist is defaulted on. But in the Defender it is defaulted off. I also like satellite maps on the navigation system, it’s also defaulted off (and took some time to find the satellite view option in the various sub menus) but this is just a minor gripe as I am sure many don’t like the satellite map view. The Defender is not defaulted to auto-access height like the Disco, but you can add this feature by playing around on the touchscreen menu.

8) When driving at night, if you like your cabin to be dark, you can turn the screen off and it goes very dim, but it took me like 5 or 10 minutes to get it to come back to normal light when I needed to see the screen. I am not going to dim or turn off that screen again because it was annoying.

9) I’ve had a couple of episodes where the camera buttons were not working when in park position, but maybe I was doing something wrong (but other times they did work when in park). But I have not had that happen in about 4 wks, so maybe they did an over the air update.

10) The vehicle does come with forward collision alert on the First Edition Model so I assumed it would come with adaptive cruise control but it just comes with regular cruise control (so maybe forward collision alert uses different radars/sensors as the adaptive cruise control). Not a dealbreaker but I do like adaptive cruise control.

11) On the Disco, the vehicle comes with a heated front windshield. The First Edition Defender does not (but is available on other Defender models).

12) My vehicle came with the “basic rear seat convenience pack” which is basically the “click and go” hangar plus hook. My vehicle came with the hangar but not hook. I emailed the dealer to see if they will mail me a hook and they will.

13) The lane keep assist feature is much better in the Discovery than the Defender. In the Defender it almost pulls you to the left yellow line on the road when the road bends left. In my opinion, it is borderline dangerous so I turned off lane keep assist after about 2 weeks. I just could not get used to it. I really hope they can improve this with over the air updates.

14) The 3D surround view is very cool. The clearsight interior rear view mirror is also very cool—just takes a day or 2 to get used to it. There is more tech on my Defender than the Disco for sure, but some of it is glitchy. The infotainment screen comes on instantly in the Defender--is a tad slower in the Disco.

15) I find that the driver’s and front passenger seat is much more comfortable than the Discovery 5. But the First Edition Model doesn't have massage seats nor cooled seats (I think the X model has cooled seats).The interior of the Defender is more utilitarian than the Disco. I find the interior of the Disco VERY luxurious.

16) The air conditioning system works well. In the Disco and in my former RRS, I could turn the rear AC system off, but I don’t think you can turn the rear system off (or at least I have not figured out how yet). I did figure out how to turn off the 3rd row AC though in the Defender.

17) The button on the door handles to unlock them is on the far right. In the Disco, it is on the far left--which makes it much easier/natural for right-handed people. If you are right-handed, you have to twist your palm up to unlock and open; however, you get used to it after a few days. So the Defender is a total win for lefties.

18) Usable storage: It is superior in the Disco. The door pockets are much bigger in the Disco and many more storage spaces in the Disco. I do like the shelf on the Defender though in the front but there is much more storage in the Disco. The cargo area is better in the Disco because the seats go totally flat. I have the 7 seat Defender, and they don't go fully flat (like the Range Rover Sport); if they do, I can't figure out how....but I don't think they do in the 7 seat Defender. When you read the manual of the Defender, it sounds like only the 5 seat Defender seats go fully flat.

19) In terms of size, it is just a tad longer than the Disco and the Defender is not as wide. They feel like the same size when driving. The Disco is a legit 7 seater; the Defender is not.

20) The recommended service interval is very different between the 2 vehicles: The owners manual recommends that the Disco be serviced every 1 yr or 16,000 miles (which ever comes first) vs. the Defender manual recommends that the vehicle be serviced every 2 years or 21,000 miles (which ever comes first). I did not realize you could go 21,000 miles between oil changes with these new engines and synthetic oils. The 2 year interval is being recommended on more and more Land Rover vehicles (ie, new Disco Sport, new Evoque, Velar 2.0L, RRS 3.0L, RR & RRS 2.0L PHEV, RR & RRS 3.0L)

I know it is always a gamble getting a first-year model because of all the glitches and hiccups that need to be worked out, so I did purchase an extended warranty to boost my confidence (and because I plan on keeping the vehicle beyond the standard warranty period). I also like the fact they state they will do over-the-air updates to fix the electronic gremlins. I consider all my various complaints/issues above to be minor (and frankly I expected them) but know that many of you like these types of details, so I decided to share. But I have no regrets and really love the vehicle. In summary, I like both vehicles.

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2020 Defender 110 First Edition Indus Silver (Current)
2020 Discovery HSE Luxury Si6 Fuji White (Current)
2015 RRS Autobiography Fuji White (Former)
2011 RRS Supercharged Fuji White (Former)
2008 LR2 Fuji White (Former)

 

@Tucker Woods this is so great! thanks for gathering up all that information. i'm excited to see how the defender line evolves over the next few years (especially the D90!) while i enjoy my discovery 5 lease. i do have a few follow up questions for you:
*does the second row fold down in one motion? or is it a "first lift up the seat cushion, then fold down the seat back (and fold/remove headrest)" configuration? i don't think the defender comes with power/remote seat fold like the discovery does, correct?
*if you have the moonroof option, does it open very wide, or just 12" (or less)? i am interested in the D90 but it appears that it will only come with a fabric soft roof for now (i love the huge expanse of glass in my LR3/LR4/D5).
*i can't tell if massage seats are offered in the new defender at all. does anyone know? it's gimmicky but a fun feature to have.
*are the cabin LED accent backlights color changing?

 

You are welcome. In regards to the second row, the folding process seems to be different depending on whether you have the 5 seater or 7 seater. It seems that the 2nd row won't fold fully flat with the 7 seater (like my old 2015 RRS; my old 2011 RRS would fold fully flat). Here is a link to see more details on the seats: https://landroverforums.com/forum/20...ements-101363/
The Disco 5 does offer electronic folding, but I think the Defender currently just offers the manually folding.
I don't believe the Defender offers massage seats. But heated and cooled seats is an available option (I just have heated seats).
The glass moonroof is gorgeous in the Defender and lets in a ton of light. Makes vehicle feel big and open; however, it only opens about 12 inches or so. I think it is fine for the front seat folks.
You can get the LED backlight lighting in the Defender as an option. They call it "Premium Cabin Lighting". I don't have that one.
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2020 Defender 110 First Edition Indus Silver (Current)
2020 Discovery HSE Luxury Si6 Fuji White (Current)
2015 RRS Autobiography Fuji White (Former)
2011 RRS Supercharged Fuji White (Former)
2008 LR2 Fuji White (Former)