Due to be revealed alongside the 2010 Range Rover (click here for details and photos) at the New York Auto Show, the Discovery 4 - LR4 for the States- comes with refreshed looks inspired from the more luxurious Range Rover, a more premium-feel cabin and the British firm's new twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter common rail diesel engine that is mated to a revised ZF HP28 6-speed automatic transmission. The updated Discovery 4 / LR4 is scheduled to go on sale in the UK this September.
On the outside, Land Rover's designers attempted to smoothen the Discovery 3's ruged looks by removing most of the dark plastic and restyling the SUVs front fascia which is clearly inspired from the Range Rover. The revised headlamps and tail lights now incorporate LED technology while there are also new 19-inch alloy wheel designs and, for the first time, a new 10-spoke 20-inch wheel is available as a factory option.
Land Rover's team paid more attention to the Discovery's interior that has received a serious makeover with a redesigned dash and instrument panel, a new centre console that is now inclined towards the driver, new steering wheel with revised switch layout and new seats. Also new are the 5-inch TFT screens in the instrument cluster displaying key information and a new Portable Audio Interface with MP3 player and i-Pod connectivity.
For the 2010MY, the Discovery benefits from a new 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged diesel engine producing 245HP and a massive 600Nm the torque. Even though it delivers 29 percent more power and 36 percent higher torque than the 2.7-liter V6 diesel which will continue to be offered on the Disco, fuel economy is improved by 9 percent, delivering 30.4mpg UK (9.3 l/100km or 25.3 mpg US) on the EU Combined cycle.
Land Rover has also improved the Disco's vehicle dynamics on and off-road by tweaking the suspension, adding larger brakes and revising the Terrain Response and Hill Descent Control systems.
