• Spacious interior for front five occupants
• Rearmost two seats tight for adults
• Large boot and lots of interior storage

How much space is there?

The Land Rover Discovery Sport’s practicality is particularly impressive. Up front there’s loads of room, and even large passengers won’t be knocking knees or clanging elbows. Head and legroom is generous even with a panoramic roof.

The second row of seats are fixed as standard, but they’re available with slide and tilt for extra passenger comfort. This is optional on S and Dynamic SE models and standard on Dynamic HSE.

Occasional adult passengers or children can be accommodated in the third row seats that also fold flat when not in use. These are optional on all models bar the P300e PHEV, though, and we’re not sure we’d bother unless you really need them – they’re really only big enough for very occasional use or small kids much like the Mercedes GLB, and those who need a genuine seven-seater would be better served by a larger SUV.

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Boot space and storage

Boot space is a very impressive 829 litres, though Land Rover measures up to the roof, rather than the load cover, unlike most manufacturers. This grows to 981 litres when the optional second row seats are slid fully forward, but when all seven seats are in place there’s only enough room for a few shopping bags. Disappointingly, the standard fixed rear seats are only a 60/40 split with no load-through function.

Even so, our five-seat plug-in hybrid long term test car proved great for family duties. The minimal load lip means its easy to push heavy items in, and there’s a useful netted area for loose items. Utilising the generous underfloor storage, we found there was plenty of space for a family weekend away for two adults and a toddler.

There are four 12-volt power points and up to six USB charging points can be specified to keep tablet and smartphone owners happy. Passengers up front secure two cupholders, a sunglasses holder, and a cubby hole under a sliding cover, while the front and rear door bins offer storage space of nearly 14 litres each. Rear passengers get two cupholders in the centre armrest and a shallow lidded cubby there, too.

Is it easy to park?

All-round visibility on the Discovery Sport is quite good thanks to the large windows , but all models come with front and rear parking sensors, as well as a rear-view camera to help with parking. A 360-degree camera is optional, and proved a useful upgrade on our long term test car.

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Chunky tyre sidewalls mean you don’t have worry too much about curbing alloys and the Sport is fairly compact, making it relatively easy to find a parking spot big enough in town.

Safety

• Five-star Euro NCAP safety rating
• Plenty of kit as standard
• Should prove a safe family car

The Land Rover Discovery Sport scored a full five-star Euro NCAP safety rating in 2022 thanks to an impressive roster of safety kit – with standard autonomous emergency braking, lane-departure warning and even a bonnet airbag to help cushion pedestrians should the worst happen. Just bear in mind that the current testing process is even tougher, so the Discovery Sport may not get five stars if it was tested today.

LED headlights are standard on all models as well as three isofix points, with one on the front passenger seat and two on the second row seats.

Land Rover’s filled top-spec cars with technology, too. Highlights include the available ground-view camera which essentially makes the bonnet ‘invisible’, ideal for off-roading but even more ideal for avoiding kerbing your wheels in tight cities.

It’s also available with a ClearSight rear-view mirror, which displays a camera feed of what’s behind you in the interior mirror. This can be tricky for your eyes to get used to, but after a few hours it works brilliantly, providing a really wide field of vision that’s unsullied by rear passengers, headrests or luggage. This is optional on all models.

Higher-spec models also come with Clear Exit Monitor, illuminating a warning light on the rear passenger door to prevent you opening them on any approaching hazards.

Watch: Land Rover Discovery Sport Euro NCAP crash test