MASTERS OF NONE

JAGUAR F-PACE 25D AWD CHEQUERED FLAG vs. LAND ROVER DISCOVERY SPORT D180 R-DYNAMIC HSE vs. MAZDA CX-5 2,2DE AWD AKERA

Celebrated travel author Paul Theroux once wrote: “Travelling makes one modest – you see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” In one sense, I believe the same applies to vehicle testing. Evaluating a car on your daily commute and through standardised testing is brilliant for building up archival data but often there is more to be learnt by adjusting your context and seeing what impression a vehicle forms on you between those indefinable bookends of Here, There and Back Again. When our (former) longterm Mazda CX-5 was required for a Getaway travel story out in Barrydale, we roped in the Jaguar F-Pace Chequered Flag and Land Rover Discovery Sport to form an unlikely trinity of road trippers.

A bit like TV cooking shows where contestants must use the same ingredients but somehow infuse their individuality into a dish, we’ve long thought an in-depth appraisal of the Discovery Sport and F-Pace –