The Landrover Defender is dead, long live the Discovery.
With the Defender stopping production after 68 years just a few months ago there were concerns that the world's most famous off-roader manufacturer would be consumed by soft-roaders.
You can't argue with the numbers though as Jaguar Land Rover is on a roll right now, a record breaking 2015 saw it hit new manufacturing highs with the most cars they have ever sold.
But what about its go-anywhere reputation? Whilst hugely-capable, a Range Rover’s main obstacle to it mixing it with the rough stuff is the fear of damaging a £90,000 motor. The Rangie has become ever more elitist as it battles Bentley Bentayga at the top of the 4X4 mountain.
The new F-PACE sports off-roader is a fine car, as is the Range Rover Sport and even the Discovery has a Sports version. However tarmac is no doubt the preferred terrain to have under their wheels. You can make up your own minds on the Evoke convertible.
Read more: F-PACE proves Jaguar have BIG plans for the future as put the sport back in SUV
If those cars were sports fans they would all support Premiership football clubs while the Discovery would still be a nailed-on rugby fan.
So where does this leave the venerable Discovery, is it still a car to appeal to city and country folk alike?
We borrowed a Discovery SDV6 Luxury for a week's family holiday in the Lake District to find out.
The stepped-roof Disco was launched in 1989, saw a second generation in 2004 and was then updated in 2009 to the current model known as the Discovery 4. A brand new Discovery 5 will be launched next year.
Standing 6ft 2inches tall and weighing in at 2.6 tonnes, the Discovery instantly feels as tough as the local granite. Despite not having Range Roveresque opulence, it carries off a balance of luxury and practicality.
It comes with a heated-steering wheel, a fridge between the front seats and buttons for tackling 5 terrain types.
With its trademark boxy rear end it can swallow a huge amount of luggage, bikes and holiday gear via the split tailgate. Inside the three sunroofs running the length of the car give you a sense of the space available.
If you forgo some of the cargo there are 2 flip up seats in the boot to make it a true 7-seater.
Press the Engine Start button from the keyless system and the group’s trademark rotary gear selector rises from the centre console.
Twist it round to D and as you set off the first thing that strikes you is how comfortable the ride is. This is courtesy of the brilliant fully independent air suspension, it really does help take the strain out of long motorway cruises.
Our test car had the more powerful of the 3.0 litre turbo diesel engine with 255 bhp, 45 bhp more than the TDV6 version.
Even the uprated powerplant will not win any traffic light grand prix with a 0-60mph time of 8.8 seconds and on to a top speed of 112mph.
But outright speed it the antithesis of the go-anywhere Discovery DNA and the engine suits its relaxed lolloping nature.
I doubt hardly any drivers use the gear-shift paddles behind the steering wheel let alone mover the gear selector into S. But the self-shifting ZF 8-speed auto is a peach, delivering almost imperceptible shuffles.
Around the Cumbrian lakes you will see more Land Rovers than Kings Road, piloted by locals and tourists alike.
The majority will tackle nothing more taxing than a gravel car park, while the harder grafters tow caravans, boats and trailers.
But come winter snow and spring floods it is obvious that a high-riding 4x4 would come into its own on the steep winding roads.
The Terrain Response system has five different settings General driving, Grass/gravel/snow, Sand, Mud and ruts and Rock crawl, which helps modulate the throttle and brake for maximum grip.
It is a sign of intent when the on-board sat nav display brings up maps complete with contour lines of nearby hills and mountains.
Showing its softer side the Luxury Pack on our car included extras such as Xenon Adaptive Front Headlamps, full-length roof rails, electric steering column adjustment for height and reach and an electric tilt/slide sunroof and aforementioned cooler box.
Also useful in a car of this size is the optional 'Surround Camera System' which uses cameras located in the headlamps, wing mirrors, and rear tailgate handle to display images on the centre console screen.
Another accessory box worth ticking is the amazing Meridian Surround Sound System capable of blasting 825W out of its 17 speakers.
You may lament the days of in-car holiday singalongs, but your kids certainly won’t, especially if they have the video screens set into the back of the front seats head rests. Complete with wireless headphones they can watch DVDs put into the main head unit control and controlled by the front seat passenger or remote control in the back.
It was all going so well and then half hour into a motorway run the Disco lived up to its name as the warning lights on the dash started flashing like Studio 54. There was a momentary loss of power then it came back again.
The warning lights all cleared when we restarted the car half hour later it was faultless. But for the rest of the week several niggly lights would come on, without any effect on performance.
It is a shame as it did dent our confidence in what could be considered the perfect family holiday car.
This aside you would be hard pressed to find a car that can swallow so many people and kit and carry you long distances on floating-on-air suspension. The Discovery may have a softer side that the rugged Defender but the off-road spirit is still alive and kicking.
Land Rover Discovery SDV6
Cost:£59,970 as tested £62,817
Size: Height 189cm, width 218cm and length 483cm
Engine: 3.0L diesel
Power: 255bhp
Gearbox: ZF 8-speed auto
CO2: 230g/km
Fuel consumption: 32.1 combined
0-60 time : 8.8 secs
Top speed: 112mph
Range: 590 miles