I have had a loaner D5 with 300 miles on it.
Here are my initial observations:
- Much bigger than I thought. For that matter than it looks while moving
- Feels very heavy.
- Drives like a ford explorer (older ones)
- Turning radius is NOT good. I had to do a 3 point turn on a residential street.
- More road noise than I expected. Maybe those 20" are the culprit.
- Seats are better than LR4 - This really surprised me
- Some controls are still set for right-hand drive (***). An example includes volume knob for the radio.
- Navigation system - 10+ this is what the 16 LR4 should have had.
- Kids have a really tough time climbing in.
- Visibility is worse than LR4.
- Rear Cargo area and the sitting platform is terrible. Space is adequate.
- The back end is as hideous as we all think.
- Looks grow on you a bit.
- Too much plastic in strange places on interior
- Door handles awkwardly placed in the interior. They are very low on the door panel IMO.
- Feels like an extra 2" for rear passengers - nice
- Glass tinting is much better than LR4
- Headroom feels lower. This could be an illusion though.
- Sun visors are much less effective in this interior. (Should I chalk this up to no sun days for testing in Britain?)
- Air vents are less effective at lower speeds. They are further away from the driver.
- LATCH system for car seats is easier to use, however, the weird panel to conceal them gets in the way of the seats.
Currently, I would NOT consider purchasing this vehicle.
I asked the LR dealer if I could take it on their offroad course. It is the molded up/down/tilt 45deg rock obstacle course that is about 200 feet long. They said "Unfortunately Land Rover is NOT that company anymore" "We haven't used the course in 10 months".