I was at a big event last week where there were hundreds of people plodding around chatting, meeting and generally talking shop. I had a lot of people coming up to me to say “Hi mate how are you”.
Now when someone asks you this, your normal response would be “yep I’m good thanks”, because this is how we all reply even if our life is in tatters. So, I thought how would a person react if you actually told them something different than the normal response? Well, let’s find out!
First off the block was a young lady from a marketing company, here is how the conversation went: Sarah: Hi I’M Sarah from Aspire, how are you today? Me: “I’m not good actually; my wife’s just left me” Sarah: “Oh! I’m sorry to hear that” Me: “Thanks, she was a pain anyway” Sarah: I just seen someone I know, I will be back in a minute wait there” I did wait, but she never came back.
So there you go readers, the moment you actually tell people how you feel they are not interested. So, why do we bother asking people how they are? We might as well just say, “Hello” and get straight to the point, because no one actually cares anyway how you feel; it’s something we just all do to be polite. Plus I’m not actually sure we should tell a complete stranger you recently visited the doctor because you had an infection. Do you?
Moving on; this of course brings me onto this month’s road test of the lovely Land Rover Discovery TDV6 HSE. I’m going to keep this short, because we all know that Land Rover builds the best 4X4. It is incomprehensible to me that anyone would think otherwise. (Apart from BMW owners of course)
So, what can I say about the Discovery then? Well, it’s brilliant. Once we get past the stigma that the only reason a person would own a Land Rover is because of the school runs.
Not so true actually. Let’s be honest here, if I was going to have a crash in a car with my family inside, I could not think of a better car to be in. Plus while everyone is in melt down mode because it’s snowing in the UK, you will continue with your daily routine unaware of all the chaos.
So, enough waffle, it was time to hit the off road button. In a nutshell, this car does off road brilliantly! No matter how rubbish you are; the Discovery just keeps going. It is just a matter of pressing a few buttons. No fuss, just plain brilliance. Now we have cleared that up, let’s move on.
Inside, you get nearly everything you’d expect inside the Discovery –The seats are comfortable and luxurious, and the interior is made from quality materials that would put any other 4X4 to shame. The cabin is quiet when on the road, making it excellent for long motorway journeys.
The engine is a perfect peach, with its 3 litre SDV6 256ps – turbocharged & intercooled diesel engine with 8-speed Transmission. Yes that’s right – 8 speed. On the road, it has lots of torque that is instant once you press the pedal. Fuel consumption was also good with an averaged 34mpg, which is brilliant for such a large car
Once again, I have to take my hat off to the Land Rover engineers for doing a fantastic job of making one of the best 4×4’s on the current market. So, if you’re a farmer, estate agent, hairdresser or a school mum etc, buy a Discovery… it makes perfect sense.
To sum up: Brilliant.
Land Rover Discovery 3 litre SDV6 engine with 8-speed
Transmission –
£53,750 – on the road and including fitted options on test car
Cubic Capacity: 3.0 litres
Power: 256ps
Top Speed: 112 mph
0-60: 8.8 sec
Urban Fuel: 32.5 mpg
Extra Urban: 37.2 mpg
Combined: 35.3 mpg
CO² Emissions: 213 g/km
By Anthony Yates
