The 2024 Land Rover Discovery Sport is ditching most of its buttons in favour of a larger touchscreen, while Australian buyers now have access to the plug-in hybrid drivetrain.
The updated Discovery Sport is available for order now, and the first deliveries are expected to arrive on our shores from December 2023.
Ch-ch-changes
The centre section of the dashboard has been redesigned to incorporate a floating 11.4-inch touchscreen with curved glass, and running the company’s Pivi Pro infotainment system that’s capable of over-the-air updates.
On the larger screen are a pair of permanently accessible sidebars with shortcuts to commonly used functions, like media, volume, climate and navigation. According to Land Rover, this setup “allows users to access 90 per cent of tasks within two taps from the home screen”.
Previously the Discovery Sport had a 10.0-inch screen underneath which was a piano black climate control panel with a mix of knobs, physical buttons, and capacitive buttons.
This climate control area has been deleted, with functionality moved to the touchscreen. In its place is a larger, mostly open-air storage area with two easily accessible USB-C ports, and a space for wireless smartphone charging.
The centre tunnel has also been redesigned with a simplified look. The large gear shifter has been changed to a smaller, stubbier unit.
Land Rover has deleted the piano black trim from this area too, and replaced it with anodised aluminium trim that has a matte grey finish. There’s also new set of cupholders to the back, and covered storage cubby in front.
A digital instrument cluster and steering wheel shift paddles are now standard on all Discovery Sport models.
On the outside there are new optional alloy wheel designs, and blue has been added to the car’s paint list.
Drivetrains
While the 2023 range in Australia was only available with the P250 drivetrain in R-Dynamic SE and R-Dyanmic HSE specs, the 2024 lineup now gains the P300e plug-in hybrid drivetrain. All variants have all-wheel drive as standard.
The carryover P250 mild-hybrid drivetrain mates a nine-speed automatic with a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine making 184kW at 5500rpm, and 365Nm between 1300 and 4500rpm.
The five-seat version is capable of completing the 0-100km/h dash in 7.8 seconds, while the seven-seat model requires 8.1 seconds.
For the P300e there’s a 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo paired to an electric motor, an eight-speed automatic, and a 14.9kWh lithium-ion battery pack. Total system output is 227kW, and the 0-100km/h standard can be dispatched in 6.6 seconds.
Land Rover says the P300e uses a new battery chemistry, upping the WLTP EV-only range to 61km.
Pricing
The P250 Dynamic SE kicks off the range at $85,250 before on-road costs, roughly $5000 more than previously. Next up is the more highly specified P250 Dynamic HSE, which starts at $94,800 before on-roads, a jump of about $9000.
Topping out the range at $103,450 before on-road costs is the P300e Dynamic SE.
