LAND ROVER DISCOVERY 4 (2010-16)

The Discovery is completely unfazed by towing, but it is a rather thirsty car

- Euan Doig

DISCOVERY. IT’S NOT ONLY the name of a Land Rover, it’s also the mindset that most caravan owners have.

After all, caravanners want to head out and find new places to explore, safe in the knowledge that they’ve got their overnight abode with them every step of the way.

The Discovery 4x4 looks like the ideal vehicle for them to do that in, because it’s large, practical and designed for off-road. But Land Rovers also have a reputation for the odd glitch. Caveat emptor.

What’s it like inside?

In essence, this generation of the Land Rover was a heavy facelift of the Discovery 3, and the good news is that cabin space and practicality are two huge strengths of both versions.

For a start, there are seven seats, and the Disco 4 is slightly unusual, in that there’s reasonable legroom and headroom in even the rearmost pair of seats. When they’re not in use, they fold flat into the boot floor to leave a huge load area. There is a large amount of room for the people in the front two seats, and those in the middle row can sit three abreast in comfort.

And on the rare occasions when you need to fold down all of the five rear seats, you’re left with a 2558-litre load bay, which is simply enormous.

Better still, all of the windows are huge, and each row of seats sits slightly higher than the one ahead, which helps with the view – car sickness shouldn’t be an issue with younger travellers.