With the gasoline engine, the Land Rover Discovery is designed to pull a maximum capacity of 8200 lbs. On the other hand, the maximum towing capacity of the vehicle is 7716 lbs with a diesel engine. This means that the Discovery is strong enough to tow a 25-foot-long camping trailer.
Land Rover Discovery – Engine
The Land Rover Discovery has two options under the hood. Where both the powertrains come with an eight-speed automatic transmission, the rest of the performance specs are given below:
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3.0L Supercharged V6 (Gasoline): This gas engine available for the Discovery has a fuel economy rating of 21/26 (city/highway) mpg. It is a six-cylinder, supercharged engine that can produce 340hp with 332 lb-ft of torque.
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3.0L Turbocharged (Diesel): This is a six-cylinder turbocharged engine generating a power output of 254 hp and 443 lb-ft of torque. The turbodiesel engine has a 23.5-gallon tank with a fuel economy rating of 16 mpg in the city and 21 mpg on the highway.
The gasoline engine has an advantage in towing over the diesel one. As you can see, it can produce more power at low rpm and the power delivery is also immediate due to the supercharger, and therefore, the V6 gas engine is more suitable for towing.
Is It Recommended to Tow with the Discovery?
The Discovery is equipped with many high-tech features that help the vehicle to take on serious towing challenges. It comes with a Terrain Response® 2, which uses built-in sensors to monitor the road conditions, and automatically selects the best drive mode to optimize performance for the towing.
With the Advanced Tow Assist, you can have full control over the direction of both your vehicle and the trailer while driving in reverse. All-Terrain Progress Control (ATPC) enables to set and maintain a steady speed when the vehicle is towing under challenging and heavy conditions.
When driving down a steep hill, you can activate Hill Descent Control® that will help you maintain a slow and steady speed for the safety purpose of your vehicle and the trailer (or any other item you’re towing).
The Land Rover Discovery is a series of SUVs produced by British manufacturer Land Rover under its marque. Introduced in 1989, the vehicle entered its fifth generation in the 2017 model year when it was revealed to the public at the 2016 Paris Motor Show.
It has an impressive maximum braked towing capacity of 8200 lbs, enough to tow another SUV or a large camper. Along with a high towing capacity, the Discovery also offers many features that make towing a piece of cake. Namely, the hitch assist allows close monitoring of the hitch while the vehicle is reversing onto a trailer.
The Advanced Tow Assist feature is also a very useful feature that allows the direction of the trailer while reversing to be determined by the use of projected images from the vehicle’s camera.
