When purchasing a first vehicle, one needs to put aside the novelties that some vehicles offer and really take a look at the practicality. Key areas to focus on when you are considering a first vehicle are space, frugality, power, comfort and safety. Once you have determined that these aspects meet your needs, then you can focus on the styling and standard technology on offer within your budget.
In this article, we will be looking at the large range of vehicles on offer from Land Rover, from the Discovery Sport all the way up to the Land Rover Range Rover models to find out if they will tick all the boxes a first-time buyer will have for a vehicle.
Space
When we take a look at the Land Rover model range, it doesn't take long to notice that the British automaker only offer SUV products. The range consists of a variety of sizes such as the more compact Discovery Sport and Land Rover Range Rover Evoque all the way up to the large Land Rover Range Rover Sport and Velar models.
Purely because of just how vast the range is from the Land Rover marque, let us take a look at one of the smaller models as well as one of the larger variants to see how they measure up. The Land Rover Range Rover Evoque in D200 R-Dynamic S guise stretch 4 371mm in length, stands 1 649mm tall and measures 2 100mm wide including the mirrors.
These measurements are not far off the seven-seater Discovery Sport which should tell you just about how much space the Evoque offer for its five occupants. In addition to this, the Evoque also provide 472-litres of luggage space which can expand to 1 156-litres when the rear seats are folded flat.
The much larger Land Rover Range Rover L in SVAutobiography Supercharged guise measures an impressive 5 200mm long, 1 840mm tall and 2 220mm wide including the mirrors. The boot space is rated at 694-litres and 1 908-litres with the rear seats folded. This should tell you just how much space this model will offer its five occupants. Provided that most other Land Rover and Land Rover Range Rover models will fall in between these two examples in terms of size, you can be sure that they all will provide you with ample space.
Performance
Once again just because of how vast the range of Land Rover vehicle's are, we will compare the entry-point to the product range, the Land Rover Discovery Sport D200 R-Dynamic S, with the most powerful model to come from the British automaker, the Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR. As all other Land Rover vehicles will rate in between these extremes, you should get a good idea of whether there is one with enough power to meet your needs.
| Land Rover Discovery Sport D200 R-Dynamic S | Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR | |
| Engine | 2.0-litre, turbocharged, 4-cylinder diesel | 5.0-litre, supercharged, V8 petrol |
| Transmission | 9-speed automatic | 8-speed automatic |
| Power | 147 kW | 423 kW |
| Torque | 430 Nm | 700 Nm |
| 0-100 km/h | 8.6s | 4.5s |
| Top speed | 209 km/h | 283 km/h |
| Fuel consumption | 6.1 L / 100 km | 12.8 L / 100 km |
| CO2 emission | 161 g/km | 294 g/km |
*This table was compiled using information sourced from www.duoporta.co.za
Warranty & Service
First-time buyers not only benefit from a 5-year / 100 000 km warranty with their Land Rover model, but they also get a 5-year / 100 000 km maintenance plan which not only ensures that the vehicle is serviced but other maintenance components are repaired or replaced during the stipulated period and mileage.
Safety
As you would expect from a vehicle in the premium segment of the market, Land Rover models come filled to the brim with standard safety equipment. Whether you opt for an entry-level Discovery Sport or the performance-oriented Range Rover Sport, you can expect ABS brakes with brake assist to feature.
In addition, customers benefit from traction and stability control systems as well as hill-start assist and hill descent control functionality. Depending on the model, occupants can expect between six and eight airbags to keep them safe during a collision.
Verdict
As we can see from the facts and figures above, the Land Rover and Land Rover Range Rover lineups will make for excellent first cars as they offer ample space, performance, comfort and safety. As alluded to earlier, the Land Rover and Land Rover Range Rover lineups occupy the more premium segment of the motor industry, however, if you find yourself in the fortunate position to purchase a new model as your first car or found yourself an affordable used Land Rover model on AutoTrader, we highly recommend it.
