Just picked up my new Ingenium engined Disco Sport this morning. I arrived at 7:30 and got a nice 1 hour handover from my local dealer, Morrisons of Stirling. I've just driven into work - just over 40 miles of driving. The first 30 miles were motorway driving at between 65 - 70 mph, mostly using the cruise control. At motorway speeds, the engine is very quiet, with excellent pickup when accelerating - very responsive for a 2 litre diesel in a heavy car. My car's an SE Tech on 18 inch wheels, and road noise and vibration were very well isolated. The 9 speed gearbox seems very well matched to the engine - no hunting as far as I could tell. In fact, the gearbox is very unobtrusive, and I'm not conscious of it changing gear most of the time. I achieved 42 mpg on this leg according to the trip computer. The extra urban quoted is 60 mpg, but that would be at a lower speed.
The last section was urban driving. The start stop system works very well - better than on my BMW. However, the engine is slightly harsh at tickover and when accelerating below 1,000 rpm. You can feel and hear some gruffness and vibration. There's also a slight turbo lag at low speeds (not the built in delay when you've applied the brakes, just a slight hesitancy before it picks up), but apart from that, it's very nippy around town. I was getting 34 mpg in this section, against a quoted 45 mpg. Again, on the 18" wheels, the ride is excellent on streets around town.
I had the loan of a 2.2D Disco Sport for a day back in April, and from memory, I would say that the new engine is significantly quieter than the old. The fuel consumption is significantly better than I was achieving in the old car, and the car seems more responsive - I would say that the gearbox is better suited to the power curve of the new engine, with more torque from lower down the rev range. The demo car had 20" wheels, and had a much harsher ride.
