Land Rover's North American division has decided to abandon the name Discovery for the vehicle which will go on sale on November 1. Over there, it's going to be called the LR3. Land Rover head office isn't particularly keen on this, and prefers to retain the original title for Europe, but the Americans want to distance the new product from the terrible results its predecessor achieved in J D Power quality surveys over the years.Another reason for wanting to find a new name might have been the overwhelming differences between Discovery 3 and everything that has gone before it. The design team included several visual references to the older cars, but that is really the only connection. Whereas previous Discoveries had to be based on existing architecture and components, this one represents a completely fresh start.The extent of the leap forward from the pre-2005 models is worth discussing. The old cars were notorious for shoddy build quality (Q: What two man-made objects can be seen from outer space? A: The Great Wall of China and the panel gaps on a Discovery); the new one feels as if it will go on for ever.The old cars, large as they were, had surprisingly little room for passengers; the new one, larger still, is comfortably spacious. The old cars were brilliant off-road but less than inspiring on tarmac; the new one is better still off-road and unbelievably superior on tarmac. The old cars had possibly the worst gearchange in the motor industry; the new one has a shift quality that beats any other off-roader I can think of.That last point isn't apparent in the models with automatic transmission, of course, but it's one of the most noticeable features of the car tested here. Even today, many off-roaders are a pain to drive if you have to change gear yourself. Once you've got used to the fact that the Discovery's gearlever is angled quite far forward, you find that it can be moved from slot to slot with no more than fingertip pressure.A wonderfully smooth-acting clutch and a nicely modulated throttle pedal mean that gearchanges can be almost seamless, which is something I never thought I would have cause to say about a Discovery. There's even a display on the dashboard to tell you what gear you are in (common in automatics, very rare in manuals), which turns out to be surprisingly useful.Smooth gearchanges are a major part of the driving experience in any car, and they are particularly helpful with the diesel-engined Discovery. The V6 unit, first seen in the Jaguar S-Type 2.7d SE, is pretty sturdy even in its detuned specification, but the Discovery is, at around 2.5 tonnes, an immensely heavy car for its overall size, and you do need to use the gearbox to make decent progress.If you want real performance, you'll probably prefer the 4.4-litre V8 petrol engine, which is powerful enough to hurl the Discovery from 0-60mph in eight seconds, but it's generally accepted that almost no UK buyers will do this. The diesel will dominate sales, and despite some criticism in the press that it's not quick enough, I reckon that the people who buy it will find it performs as well as they need it to.There's something curious about this engine, though. Before anyone had driven it, Land Rover announced that the detuning process would involve removing one of the two turbochargers used in the Jaguar application, in order to improve power at low engine speeds. That seemed the wrong way round - normally you add turbos to increase the spread of power, not take them off - and sure enough the Discovery doesn't really get properly down to business until the engine has reached 2500rpm. Many current diesels can be driven very quickly without ever exceeding that speed, but the Discovery has to be worked much harder.The diesel is of course by far the more economical of the two options, and Land Rover claims a combined economy figure of 30mpg. We haven't yet driven a Discovery for long enough to be able to comment on that in any detail, but during this short test, which included quite a lot of performance driving in addition to some hair-raising off-road exploration, a figure in the low to mid-20s seemed more likely. That's still far better than the V8 can manage, of course - Land Rover claims just 18.8mpg for it on the combined cycle.Comparison between the two engines on consecutive days showed that the diesel doesn't lose much in terms of refinement. It's not a great deal noisier than the V8, and with its six cylinders it produces quite an impressive engine note at full throttle. The traditional clatter of old Discovery diesels at tickover is a thing of the past, too.In the SE form tested here, the Discovery is packed with standard equipment including 18" alloys, a touch-screen navigation system (which also provides diagrams showing which differential is locked, how much wheel travel is being used and so on in off-road driving), automatic headlights, a leather pack, park distance control, cruise control, automatic climate control and the celebrated Terrain Response system which allows the car to decide for itself what settings are most appropriate for the conditions. There is just one higher trim level, HSE, which includes even larger alloys, a "moon roof", a fancier navigation system, Harman Kardon audio and a six-speed automatic gearbox.At £36,995, the diesel SE is exactly in the middle of the Discovery price range - you can pay £10,000 less for the most basic diesel or £10,000 more for the top-spec V8. These are slightly alarming figures, but Land Rover recently announced that each Discovery model in the new range is likely to have retained 54.6% of its original value after three years, and that ownership cost should be a whopping 42% lower than it was for the outgoing model.Phil Popham, Land Rover UK's managing director, is quoted as saying that, "Early signals suggest we are about to enter the market with a winner." Motor industry people say things like that quite often, and there is frequently a sense of desperation behind the remark. But not, I think, in this case. Engine 2720cc, 6 cylinders Power 188bhp Transmission 6-speed manual Fuel/CO2 30.0mpg / 249g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 11.2 seconds Top speed 112mph Price £36,995 Details correct at publication date
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