IF YOU thought the clean, smooth lines and slightly futuristic look of the Range Rover slipped out of Land Rover's design studio by accident, think again.

The firm's third generation Discovery takes the concept not one step further, but propels it into the 25th century.

If Buck Rodgers had a company car, this would be it. Granted, the "wow factor" generated by the Disco's looks is largely due to the previous generation's function over form bias. But it can be said without any hint of hyperbole that there's nothing on the road like the latest Discovery.

Describing the car as radical doesn't really do it justice. Its sheet metal is devoid of the usual fussy creases and lines you'll find on regular cars, while the designers have eschewed flowing curves in favour of bold angles and large expanses of glass.

The effect is dramatic - to the point that it makes everything else on the road look and feel from a different era.

And you can forget the tape measure, this Disco is big - which helps when it comes with a third row of seats.

All bar the base spec car come with the extra two chairs, making the space-age Land Rover a match not just for anything in the 4x4 sector but also the full-size people carrier market - make that the van sector, too, because you can fold the second and third rows flat into the floor, transforming the Discovery into the smartest van this side of a wood and leather-trimmed Ford Transit.

The practical touches continue with a split tailgate - the bottom section is strong enough to be used as an impromptu seat.

Inside you'll find no end of cubbyholes, cup holders and places in which to lose your mobile phone.

The front seat armrest hides a deep cavern of space and the glovebox is anything but small.

Purists will argue that all this cupholder nonsense makes the Discovery no better than the soft-roader opposition. Far from it, it's Land Rover moving with the times and aware that buyers want all the comforts in a premium 4x4 that they're used to in premium-spec MPVs and saloons.

Talking of conventional saloons, one area in which the old Discovery lacked finesse was on-road handling. The latest Discovery may be no match for BMW's 5 Series, but pitch and roll has been reduced to almost X5 levels - but with no detriment to the Disco's ability to soak up road imperfections.

S, SE and HSE-spec get a very clever air suspension setup, which does an impressive job of ironing out the bumps and curves of B-roads and motorways.

The Discovery (pictured) wears a Land Rover badge for a reason. For all the car's impressive on-road manners, if it couldn't do the business off-road there would have been uproar. Thankfully it does.

Three things make the biggest impression - the car's incredibly agile chassis, its flexible diesel engine and the new Terrain Response system.

The engine is the same 2.7-litre unit that propels Jaguar's S-Type, only Land Rover has tuned the motor to deliver more torque for low-speed work. There's also a 4.4-litre petrol V8 to choose from, but in reality there is only one worth considering - unless you possess your own oil field.

The Terrain Response system is proof that Land Rover really has thought of everything. A rotary mode selector can fine-tune the car's behaviour according to the road surface.

Driving over sand? Switching to sand mode gives you a sharper throttle response to ensure you don't get bogged down.

Need to traverse some rocks? Turn the dial and you get a longer throttle travel so you can inch over boulders with ease.

There's also a general-purpose slippery mode and one specifically for mud and ruts.

The system also raises the Disco's ride height and adjusts the behaviour of the car's auto gearbox, which is optional on all diesels and standard on the flagship HSE and all V8s.

For more information, contact Webbers Land Rover on 01256 300615.