2014 Land Rover Discovery facelift revealed

This is the facelifted Land Rover Discovery 4, which follows hot on the heels of the revised Range Rover Evoque and new Range Rover Hybrid. The new model will make its public debut alongside these models at the Frankfurt Motor Show, and order books are open now.

• Land Rover Discovery 4 review

The 2014 seven-seat Discovery has a new front end, plus more clever safety tech. It also gets intelligent stop-start to boost efficiency.

Designers have replaced the ‘Land Rover’ bonnet lettering with ‘Discovery.’ The revised model will now be known simply as the Land Rover Discovery, dropping the number four from the tailgate.

To cut down on the number of letters and numbers that normally adorn the Discovery’s tail-gate, the ‘SDV6’ engine designation is moved to the front wings.

There’s also a fresh bumper, new headlamps and revised LED running lights. Completing the visual makeover are two new alloy wheel designs, while the £1,900 Black Design Pack – with gloss black details and unique 20-inch rims – is carried over from before.

The addition of stop-start cuts the familiar 3.0-litre diesel’s CO2 emissions to 213g/km and boosts economy to 35.3mpg – not bad for a car weighing 2.5 tonnes.

Power remains unchanged at 253bhp, with 600Nm of torque, and all models still get the eight-speed auto box. The 0-60mph time remains at 8.8 seconds.

However, Land Rover has added the choice of options normally reserved for Range Rover models.

Buyers can now add wade sensing, which use SONAR sensors under each door mirror to work out the depth of water ahead of the vehicle. This shows up on a display, so you can compare the predicted depth of the water with a red line showing the car’s maximum wading capability.

Also on the options list is blind-spot monitoring and T-junction cameras, plus the Range Rover’s 17-speaker Meridian sound system is a £4,000 option.