Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
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photography CoUrtESy oF LaND roVEr Make a Discovery The Land RoveR discoveRy spoRt Tones iT down for The new england summer wiThouT losing any of iTs mojo. by robert cocuzzo One of the great paradoxes of SUVs is that they're typically not driven to any- where near their full potential. Look no farther than the island of Nantucket for proof of this automotive irony. Despite its narrow streets, astronomic gas prices, and parking spaces seemingly desig ned for Power W heels, many summertime residents insist on driving souped-up Land Rovers that look like they just rolled off an African safari. They're all sport, no utility. And while this may be a case of pomp and circumstance, like the baseball manager wearing cleats (does he actually expect they'll ask him to play?), there should be a practical option. How do you get the power of a monster truck with the agility of a Mini? Enter the 2015 Land Rover Discovery Sport. Seen from the curb, the Discovery doesn't possess the hard, masculine lines of a traditional Land Rover. It's rounded, and if you were to glance at it in your rearview mirror, you might just mistake it for one of the many run-of- the-mill midsize crossovers that have taken the auto industry by storm in recent years. But when that Discovery pulls into the fast lane and passes you (it goes from zero to 60 in 7.8 seconds), you'll quickly realize that's no R AV4. This becomes even more evident when taking the Discovery off-road. It can ford streams up to two feet deep; its all-wheel drive and generous clear- ance devour rough terrain. If the Discovery were an animal, it would be a bobcat—cute and cuddly until you give it something to chew on. Inside, meanwhile, the Discovery possesses all the refined design you'd expect of a $38,000 Land Rover. It has the most expansive sunroof I've ever seen. Remember in Jurassic Park when t he T. rex t r ies to eat t hose k ids through the SUV's bulletproof glass roof? Yeah, it's that big. Pressing the ignition prompts a dial to rise up through the panel, which you turn to put the vehicle in drive. The rest of the interior is Hemingway-inspired: It says a lot with a little. For those sensible enough to know that bigger isn't always better, this new offering from Land Rover is certainly worth discovering. Land Rover Sudbury, A Herb Chambers Company, 83 Boston Post Road, Rte. 20, Sudbury, 888-216-1776; landroverofsudbury.com BC clockwise from top left: The 2015 Land Rover Discovery Sport; its enormous sunroof; an adaptive xenon headlamp; the dash's eight-inch touch screen. Carnoisseur 122 bostoncommon-magazine.com