Don’t expect to see the new Land Rover Discovery Sport to get the SVR treatment, according to LR’s program chief Murray Dietsch. Even so, the diminutive luxury off-roader will most likely have a performance variant in the future.
According to Motoring, Dietsch said that “Special Operations tends to have its eyes on certain segments and certain price points,” meaning that it would most likely be cost prohibitive to give it the Discovery Sport the power and suspension upgrades deserving of the new performance line.
Dietsch says instead that more powerful “home brand” versions are on the table, most likely alluding to pulling more power out of the four-cylinders that power the Discovery Sport and Evoque, rather than shoehorning a six-cylinder.
At that point, the turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder in the D8 – small platform Land Rover cars – can see an output of 240 horsepower and 251 pound-feet of torque. I’d need a significant boost in power to match rival cars in this segment, such as Audi’s V6-powered SQ5 and M versions of the BMW X3 and X4.
No time limit is set on any performance model of the Discovery Sport, but it’s only just gone on sale in September, with deliveries set for the top of this year, so it may be a little early to start looking for the next one. That being said, with Land Rover making big moves to support this line, as well as introduce a new Defender, we’ll be sure to hear something concerning future projects later in the year.
