Elsewhere in the magazine you'll find plenty to read about the Discovery, including Mike Grundon's launch report of the range in general, my own road test of the TDV6 SE and - if you insist - Rufus J Flywheel's column about the strange goings-on at the international press event. What makes this new test significant is that it's the first report we've made about actually living with a Discovery on a day-to-day basis.This one is the TDV6 HSE, which is simply a yet more lavish version of the SE. In all its forms the Discovery is exceptionally well-equipped, but the HSE is top dog, with 19" alloy wheels, a "moon roof", a six-speed automatic gearbox (the SE uses a six-speed manual) and the best audio and navigation systems in the range.The automatic transmission makes quite a difference. I'm very impressed with the manual, which has the neatest gearchange action of any serious off-roader in my experience, but it does point up Land Rover's curious decision to remove one of the two turbochargers used on this engine when it's fitted to the Jaguar S-Type. Land Rover says this has been done to improve flexibility, but whatever the graphs may say my impression is that flexibility has been reduced.With the manual gearbox you have to react to this and change gears more often than you think necessary, but with the automatic you just select D and leave the transmission to its own devices.You can also move the lever an inch or so to the left and start choosing gears for yourself, but I did this just once, by way of experiment. I never felt the need to do so again.That, of course, was because of the driving conditions. Last year I drove the Discovery in various forms over an incredible variety of terrain - on tarmac, down dizzying slopes, through lochs, up sand dunes and on one deeply embarrassing occasion (yes, it was me) over the heads of horrified Land Rover personnel and into space.This time I had all four wheels on solid ground at all times, and I soon realised how little use I was making of the car's potential. Manual control of what gear I was in was almost irrelevant, but at the same time it was a lot more relevant than the astonishing Terrain Response system which allows you to adjust the car's behaviour according to the type of ground you want to cover next. A fantastic device. Very clever. Didn't go anywhere near it.If I had bought this car rather than just borrowed it, I would have paid a lot of money for features I would never use, other than to show people that I'd paid a lot of money for them. But this is the paradox of serious 4x4s in general, and the Discovery (and Range Rover) in particular. Vastly more people buy them than need them. Land Rover enjoys incredible brand loyalty, which translates into incredible sales figures, but there must be more to it than that.Well, you do get a tremendous feeling of presence when you drive a Discovery. It's very large, and in third-generation form it has a much greater "get out of my way" factor than the previous models. The driving position is very high and there's an enormous glass area, so visibility isn't even slightly a problem. A lot of the Discovery's appeal lies in the feeling of confidence you have when driving it.Even in diesel form, it feels quite refined. The six-cylinder engine makes a reasonably musical note, not far removed from that produced by the old V8, and real-world performance feels about the same (the new V8 is quicker but also hideously uneconomical, and Land Rover knows that hardly anyone in the UK will buy it).On tarmac this car is outstandingly better than any previous Discovery, but although the chassis engineers have done a fantastic job with what they were given there is no avoiding either the high centre of gravity or the fact that all those clever pieces of equipment that you paid for but won't use contribute to an overall weight of two and a half tonnes. I don't see how the ride quality could be much better than it is, but unavoidably there is still a lot of body lean through corners.The weight concerned me for another reason, too. Although I always felt that the Discovery was well in touch with the tarmac, I couldn't help wondering what would happen if something went badly wrong. I would then be sitting inside a very tall, very heavy car with a mind of its own. Where would I land, and how much damage would be caused to other people and, indeed, me? Fine piece of work though the Discovery is in on-road terms, it is no exception to the rule that big off-roaders have to be handled with care. Engine 2720cc, 6 cylinders Power 188bhp Transmission 6-speed automatic Fuel/CO2 27.2mpg / 275g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 11.7 seconds Top speed 112mph Price £41,995 Release date 15/05/2010
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