Land Rover Discovery SUV - Practicality & boot space

It’s all very well talking about the latest Discovery’s improved road manners, interior quality and fuel-efficiency, but were it to fall down on the practicality front, it could fairly be considered a failure. This isn’t the case: the Discovery is one of the most – if not the most – practical cars on sale today.

Land Rover Discovery interior space & storage

Many cars bill themselves as seven-seaters, but the third row is often best reserved for small children, or adults you’re not particularly fond of. The Discovery, on the other hand, can seat four adults in comfort. Six-footers in the very back row shouldn’t find their knees jammed into the seats in front of them, nor should their heads graze the car’s roof, and every seat is near a charger to keep mobile devices topped up.

The second row of seats gets a split-folding function and slides backwards and forwards as standard, while the two third-row seats fold individually. Go for R-Dynamic HSE trim and all the rear seats can be folded using the touchscreen or a smartphone app. Every trim also includes five ISOFIX mounting points: one in the front and two each in the second and third rows.

The Discovery’s interior is peppered with storage spaces – although some are trim-dependent. All come with a huge central cubby and the lid of this can be folded back to provide those in the second row with another place to put their stuff. Further lidded storage areas can be found in the third row by the windows and there are handy twin gloveboxes.

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Boot space

The Discovery’s boot varies in size depending on how many seats you have up. With all seven in place, its 228-litre capacity is similar to a supermini; have six seats up and the 698 litres of available storage is roughly equal to the load area of a large estate car like the Skoda Superb. With five seats in place, the figure is 1,137 litres, while the 2,406 litres of available space with the second and third rows dropped puts the Discovery firmly in van territory.

Towing

With a limit of 3,500kg across the diesel engine range and 3,000kg for the petrol powered P300 model, the Discovery is one of the most capable tow cars out there. Specify the ‘advanced tow assist’ system and it’ll even help out when reversing with a trailer.