A diesel Land Rover Discovery would be one of the last cars to come to mind when it comes to environmentally-friendly machines – but it could actually be better for the planet than many small family run-arounds, according to new research.
The newly-launched AIR Index is an independent test of a car’s real-word pollutants in city and town driving, and six cars – from a large SUV right down to the dinky Clio – were tested to kick it off.
Performing best of those was a 2018 Land Rover Discovery 3.0 TD6, a car that is often perceived as a ‘dirty diesel’, alongside many other black-pump SUVs. The Discovery achieved an ‘A’ rating in this new test, meaning it emits up to 80mg/km of NOx in real-world driving. In contrast, a 2017 Renault Clio 1.5 DCI received a ‘E’ grade – said to emit in excess of 600mg/km of NOx.
