Land Rover has unveiled the Discovery Vision concept at the New York Motor Show and hinted at the future expanded Discovery range. The range will eventually comprise for SUVs under the Discovery badge. The first two will collectively replace for the current five-seat Freelander an will go by the name Discovery Sport. Due to be revealed by the end of the year and based on the Range Rover Evoque platform, the new Discovery Sport will come in five- and seven- seat flavours, and the latter will be assembled in India at JLR's plant in Pune. There's likely to be a specially specified version for India.
A new addition to the line-up will be a rugged, seven-seat off-roader in the mould of Toyota's Land Cruiser. This will be a sister car to the New Range Rover model that will slot in between the Evoque and RR Sport.
Crowning the range will be a direct replacement for the current Discovery 4, but with an even plusher and more premium execution. It is this all-aluminium model that Discovery Vision Concept most closely previews.
The styling of the concept is very different from the current Discovery 4. The silhouette is sportier and the lined and detailing clearly more curvaceous. The overhangs are shorter to give a more compact look, and there are flourishes from the Range Rover family ion the wraparound lights and the grille.
However, there are still similarities with the current Discovery in the concept's stepped roof and inside where the Discovery's famed 'command' driving position remains, as do the three rows of sitting progressively elevated in a theatre-like style to give all occupants a good forward view.
The interior design is more sophisticated and luxurious than the Discovery 4's. the centre console is dominated by a large central touch screen to carry out almost all interior functions. High-quality materials and details feature throughout, including luxurious metals, special leathers that are washable and totally oil and water repellent, and gesture operated mode lighting.
The generous amount of new technology in the Discovery Vision Concept includes laser head lamps that scan the road and can automatically dip certain parts of the beam. Another feature is 'Smart Glass', used for the whole glasshouse, which can display images like a computer screen. This allows for the 'Transparent Bonnet' function- an image being projected from the head-up display on to the windscreen in the driver's field of vision, giving an impression that the bonnet is see-through. This is useful off road and enables the driver to see the terrain immediately below the car. The glass also allows the panoramic roof and passenger windows to be infinitely dimmed or fully blacked out.
The concept also features a host of new driving functions. The most notable is a remote control drive function, which allows a driver to control the car from the outside at low speeds, either by a removable rotary controller or a smartphone app.
Other features include Laser Terrain Scanning (which maps the terrain ahead using lasers in the fog lamps), Laser Referencing (which uses the car's lasers to project images on to the road such as warning triangles) and a next generation version of the Terrain Response system accordingly, to see how deep a water obstacle is and advise if its passable, and low-speed autonomous driving off road.
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