Land Rover Discovery Sport vs Toyota Kluger

What's the difference?

Flexible, dynamically capable, and nicely put together, the Land Rover Discovery Sport S P200 packs a lot into a small/medium SUV package. It gives some ground to its premium competitors on equipment, but has a seven-seat ace up its sleeve, with genuine off-highway ability to boot.

The Kluger Grande Hybrid is outstanding among its peers for fuel efficiency, practicality and ownership costs. It's just that this grade is overly expensive. Really the GXL is the sweet spot in the range for value but you do miss out on some good features such as the sun blinds and leather seats.

That said, hybrid is the way to go with a large SUV, delivering fuel savings and a more peaceful driving experience.

Comfortable, easy, practical and peaceful, that's all parents really want.

Launched globally in 2014, and arriving here a year later, the Discovery Sport was given a comprehensive makeover in mid-2019, with an evolution of its exterior design, a refreshed interior, improved tech, and optimised packaging.

But at first glance you won’t notice a huge difference. The car’s overall proportions are unchanged, the signature clamshell bonnet remains in place, as does the familiar, broad, body-coloured C-pillar, and a strong, horizontal character line running the length of the car (just under the windows).

Although it looks like the roofline tapers to the rear, it’s more a case of the base of the windows (car designers call it the beltline) rising towards the back of the car. 

Styling tweaks include a new headlight shape (they’re now LED), as well as a revised lower grille and front air vents, bringing the baby Disco more in line with its larger, and newer, Land Rover siblings.

Changes at the rear are even more subtle, with a rearranged tail-light design the only discernible difference.  

Interior highlights include two large digital displays - a 12.3-inch instrument cluster, and a 10.25-inch ‘Touch Pro’ multimedia screen - as well as a new centre console design.

The previous rotary gear select dial has been replaced by a more conventional shifter, buttons and controls have been made softer and set in ‘hidden-until-lit’ gloss black panels, and the door grab handles have been relocated and reshaped to be… grabbier.

A reprofiled steering wheel with sleek black control panels attached is also new, but as with the exterior, big-ticket items like the flowing dashtop, main dash panels, and key storage areas are unchanged. 

Overall, the interior feel is clean, comfortable, and precisely composed. The Land Rover design team is on its game.

The Toyota Kluger is the New Balance sneaker of cars. Yep, Toyota has nailed Mum-and-Dad fashion with the look of the Kluger, without any hint of irony.

This generation came out in 2021 and you can guarantee Toyota won’t bring out a new-gen version until about 2028, possibly 2030.

And even then that one will also look like a loaf of bread, just with a different face. Like this one, and the last one and the one before that.

That reminds me, we need bread.

The Kluger looks tough, but not elegant. It looks modern, but not avante-garde. It looks functional and tells the world, 'if it wasn’t for the kids I wouldn’t be driving this'.

Get past the Kluger Grande’s uninspiring exterior and you’ll find a surprisingly upmarket cabin that's full of air and light, well appointed with premium seats as well as a modern and stylish dashboard.

The Grande grade adds some nice trimmings I didn't mention in the features section such as the wood-look elements, ambient lighting, and the soft-touch instrument panel.

The exterior also gains chrome elements in the grille, roof rails and larger 20-inch chrome-look wheels.

There are some elements which bring the tone down in the cabin. The JBL speakers in the windscreen pillars look like big plastic novelty ears and the wood-look trim doesn’t look or feel like wood (why didn’t they use real wood?), but it’s not worth getting uppity about.

As mentioned, the Disco Sport isn’t huge on the outside (4.6m long), but interior packaging is impressive. A dash which slopes markedly back towards the base of the front screen helps open up the front passenger space, with 12-way electric front seats (with two-way manual headrests) adding extra flexibility 

There’s plenty of storage on offer, including two cupholders sitting side-by-side in the centre console, and a drop-in cover for them is supplied if you’d prefer a shallow, dished tray. There’s also a lidded storage box (which doubles as an armrest) between the front seats, a generous glove box, an overhead sunglasses holder and door pockets with enough room for bottles.

The second-row seat is amazingly roomy. Sitting behind the driver’s seat, set for my 183cm height, I had ample leg and headroom, and at getting on for 2.1m from side to side, the Discovery Sport punches above its weight division in terms of width.

Which means you can realistically seat three adults across the middle row, for short to medium length trips, at least. Adjustable air vents for back-seaters are a welcome inclusion, as are a pair of cupholders in the fold-down centre armrest, map pockets on the front seatbacks, and decent door bins.

If you’re willing to launch a UN-style diplomatic mission to negotiate relative space for those in the second- and third-row seats, the manual slide and recline function for the centre row will act as a handy mediator.

As mentioned earlier, Land Rover makes no bones about the fact that the third row is best for kids, but having that occasional seating capacity can be a godsend in helping the car accommodate extra family friends or relatives. There are cup/bottle holders and small elasticised storage pockets for each ‘way-back’ seater.

Getting in and out is relatively painless because the back doors open to almost 90 degrees, and the centre row seats fold forward easily. 

Worth noting the third-row seat is standard, and removing it is a no-cost option, the trade-off being the move to a full-size spare wheel and tyre rather than the otherwise standard space-saver.

Boot capacity comes in three sizes, depending on which seats are raised or lowered. With all seats upright, load space is a modest 157 litres, enough for a few grocery bags or some soft luggage.

Drop the 50/50 split-folding third row, via a user-friendly release mechanism, and 754 litres opens up. Our three-piece hard suitcase set (36, 95 and 124 litres) slipped in with room to spare, as did the jumbo size CarsGuide pram.

Fold away the third row as well as the 40/20/40 split second row, and no less than 1651 litres will have you thinking about starting a furniture moving side hustle.

There are sturdy tie-down anchor points at each corner of the load floor, and a handy netted pocket behind the driver’s side wheel tub.

In terms of media connectivity and power options, there’s a 12-volt outlet in the front and centre rows, and a USB port up front.

‘Our’ car was fitted with the ‘Power pack 2’ option ($160), which adds USB sockets for the second and third rows, as well as a wireless charging bay up-front ($120). 

Towing capacity for a braked trailer is 2200kg (with 100kg towball download), 750kg unbraked, and ‘Trailer Stability Assist’ is standard. The stability assist system detects trailer sway movements at speeds above 80km/h, and manages them through symmetric and asymmetric braking of the car.

The Kluger is vastly more practical than many of its rivals despite them also being large and seven seaters. 

That’s because the Kluger’s use of space inside is excellent for storage, luggage and people. There’s thoughtful practicality everywhere. 

Take the Kluger’s dashboard, which doesn’t eat into the cabin too much and has built-in shelves running the width from front passenger to driver. 

And the centre console box with its roller door opening that reveals a wireless phone charger and below that deck is a huge hidden space.

There are cupholders in all three rows and generously sized door pockets.

Legroom in the second row is excellent and I can sit behind my driving position even though I'm 189cm tall.   

I could sit in the third row, but my head touched the roof and my knees were getting friendly with the back of the seat in front. As with most third rows in SUVs they’re best suited for kids.

Along with the wireless phone charger there are seven USB ports (five up front and two in the second row).

Three-zone climate control means the second row can set their temperature (this comes on the GXL grade, too), and the Grande adds sun blinds and privacy glass to the rear windows.

The rear doors also open tall and wide making entry and exit easy.

The tailgate opens high so there's less chance of bumping your head and it’s the gesture type which means you use a kick motion to open if your hands are full.

Boot space is excellent. The cargo capacity with the third row folded flat is 552 litres and with the third row up its 421 litres.  

If you’re reading this you’ve decided to find out more or possibly just want to know why I called out the price of the Kluger Grande Hybrid in the introduction.

Here’s why. The Kluger Grande Hybrid lists for $80,230. That’s before on-road costs like rego, stamp duty, compulsory third party insurance and dealer delivery charges.

That’s a lot of money and it’s because this Grande grade sits at the top of the range. 

The entry-level Kluger GX Hybrid lists for $58,290. That’s $22K less than the Grande. You could buy an entire car for $22,000 - a Hyundai Venue, a Kia Stonic or a Suzuki Swift.

So, why does the Grande cost so much? I don’t know. The features don’t seem to justify the higher price.

All Klugers come standard with alloy wheels, LED headlights, proximity unlocking and push-button start, three-zone climate control, rear privacy glass plus wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. And all have seven seats. 

The GXL adds built-in sat nav and a big 12.3-inch media display, heated and power-adjustable front seats, and an auto tailgate. 

The Grande then adds leather seats (heated and ventilated up front), a wireless phone charger, head-up display, panoramic glass roof, kick-function tailgate, sunshades for the rear windows and an 11-speaker JBL sound system.

Really, the GXL Hybrid is the one to get and it lists for $67,810.  

The Land Rover Discovery Sport S P200 is powered by a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder, turbo-petrol engine producing 147kW at 5500rpm and 320Nm from 1250-4500rpm.

It’s part of Jaguar Land Rover’s family of modular ‘Ingenium’ diesel and petrol engines, built around multiples of the same 500cc cylinder design. 

The all-alloy unit features variable intake and exhaust cam timing, variable (intake) valve lift and a single, twin-scroll turbo.

Drive goes to all four wheels via a nine-speed (ZF-sourced) automatic transmission, and front and rear diffs, with torque on demand to the rear axle.

If you're concerned a hybrid system will have trouble pulling a large SUV around, let me tell you, the Kluger is powerful and has no problems doing the work. This hybrid SUV could well have more grunt than any car you've ever driven.

Okay, so the Kluger Grande we tested was a petrol-electric hybrid variant which combines a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with three electric motors powered by a battery.

The engine’s output is 142kW and 242Nm while the motors make a combined 184kW. The front two electric motors make 134Nm and 270Nm of torque while the rear motor produces 121Nm.

The continuously variable transmission keeps the motion smooth and sends the drive to all four wheels, so yes, the hybrid is all-wheel drive.

Claimed fuel economy for the combined (ADR 81/02 - urban, extra-urban) cycle is 8.1L/100km, the S P200 emitting 188g/km of CO2 in the process.

Over close to 400km of city, suburban and quite a bit of freeway running, we recorded 10.1L/100km, which is a passable result.

Minimum fuel requirement is 95 RON premium unleaded and you’ll need 65 litres of it to brim the tank.

There are plenty of large SUVs with big V6 and V8 petrol engines out there with heaps of power but they use three times the amount of fuel the Kluger Grande Hybrid does. 

I know this first hand. I’ve just tested a V6 powered seven seater SUV which used 20L/100km month in, month out.

I drove the Kluger Grande Hybrid on exactly the same roads every day, doing the same things like school drop offs, the supermarket run, swimming lessons and the work commute and it used 6.6L/100km. I measured this at the fuel pump.

So, 20L/100km for another V6 seven-seater SUV or 6.6L/100km for the Kluger Grande Hybrid? Which would you prefer?

Toyota’s official consumption figure for the Kluger Hybrid is 5.6L/100km (based on a combination of open and urban roads) but mine was mainly suburban and city driving when more fuel is used.

The Kluger Hybrid has a 65-litre fuel tank which means a range of approximately 1160km is technically possible.

The Kluger Grande Hybrid doesn't need plugging in to charge. The battery recharges on the go through regenerative braking.

So, unless you’re a driving enthusiast who loves high-performance or classic cars I’m not sure why you wouldn't choose the hybrid option when it comes to a large SUV. Or a small one.

Land Rover claims 2.0-litre turbo-petrol versions of the Discovery Sport will accelerate from 0-100km/h in 9.2sec. Anything under 10 seconds is reasonably swift, and the S P200 makes good use of all of its nine gear ratios to keep things on the boil.

Maximum torque of 320Nm isn’t huge pulling power, especially when we’re talking about shifting a close to 2.0-tonne (1947kg) seven-seater. But the twin-scroll turbo’s contribution means every one of those torques (actually newton-metres) is available from just 1250rpm, all the way to 4500rpm. So, mid-range performance is energetic enough. 

If you really want to press on, peak power (147kW) arrives at a lofty 5500rpm, just 500rpm away from the engine’s nominal rev ceiling. At which point, having remained a relatively low-key whirr in the background, the engine makes its aural presence felt.

The Cleary family (of five) took to the highway and some rural back roads for a weekend away during the test period, and open road performance was stress-free, with more than enough oomph for easy cruising and (well-planned) overtaking.

Seamlessly shuffling drive between the front and rear axles, the Terrain Response 2 system coped admirably with graded, but slightly rutted dirt roads, the car feeling secure and composed at all times.

Suspension is strut front, multi-link rear, and ride quality is good, especially in the context of an off-highway capable SUV. And the seats proved supportive and comfy over long stints.

Standard 18-inch alloy rims are shod with 235/60 Michelin Latitude Tour HP rubber, an on-road focused tyre which proved grippy and surprisingly quiet.

Electrically-assisted steering delivers impressive feel and accuracy, while the brakes, by ventilated disc all around (349mm fr/325mm rr), are progessive and strong.

And although we didn’t push into hardcore off-road conditions, those keen on doing so will want to know the car’s wading depth is 600mm, obstacle clearance is 212mm, approach angle is 25 degrees, ramp angle is 20.6 degrees, and the departure angle is 30.2 degrees. Enjoy the rough stuff.

Smooth, easy, comfortable. Let’s be honest, the Kluger is the SUV version of the Toyota Camry and like that sedan it’s not trying to be a performance vehicle.

Besides, as a dad of small children, smooth, easy and comfortable is all I want these days. I’m still hurting all over after giving piggybacks down a hill all after yesterday. I think I’ve punctured a lung or something. So yeah, smooth, easy, comfortable please and dull sounds good to me right now.

The hybrid powertrain with the continuously variable transmission means motion is smooth with no jerky gear changes and at lower speeds the Kluger glides in silence under the power of just the motors.

If you've never driven an EV before a hybrid like this is the perfect place to start. There's no plugging in to charge yet at low speeds it operates just like an electric car, moving silently and smoothly through the world.

It's serene and makes traffic far less taxing with no gear changes or idling engine.

The steering is light and accurate, while the visibility is good making the Kluger easy to pilot and park.

The suspension is set up for a composed ride and this is helped more by the big, comfy seats.

The Kluger Grande Hybrid isn’t fast in a straight line, but it isn’t sluggish either. The combination of the torque from the electric motors and petrol engine make it feel just as quick off the mark as some V6-powered SUVs I’ve driven lately.  

The Kluger was given the maximum five-star ANCAP rating when it was tested in 2021 and all grades through the range come with the same high level of safety tech.

So, like all the other grades the Grande has AEB with pedestrian and cyclist detection, there’s blind-spot warning, rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, plus front and rear parking sensors.

The rear view camera’s view is wide and the resolution is excellent - vital for reversing out of driveways.

Child seats can be fitted only in the second row with three top tether anchor points and two ISOFIX mounts.

You should also know that airbags don't fully cover the third row occupants in the Kluger.

Land Rover offers a three year/100,000km warranty in Australia, with 24-hour roadside assistance included for the duration.

That’s well off the mainstream pace, which sits at five years/unlimited km, but on the upside, three years paint surface cover, and a six year anti-corrosion warranty are part of the deal.

Service requirement is variable, with a range of on-board sensors feeding into a service interval indicator in the vehicle, although you can use 12 months/20,000km as a guide.

A fixed ‘Land Rover Service Plan’ set at five years/102,000km is available for $1950, which isn’t too shabby at all.

The Kluger Grande Hybrid is covered by Toyota’s five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. The hybrid battery is covered by an eight-year/160,000km warranty.

Servicing is needed annually or every 15,000km and is capped at $265 per service for the first five years.