Adjusting the Land Rover Discovery’s seats is so easy, Bear Grylls did it while skydiving

By Andrew Hard September 7, 2016

All-New Land Rover Discovery Intelligent Seat Fold Technology Tested by Bear Grylls

For large families, three-row SUVs are a godsend. Having seven available seats (or a boatload of cargo volume when they’re folded) is vital when you’re ferrying almost a whole soccer team around town, but those seats can be a pain to adjust manually. You’ll often find yourself squeezing and bending in ways you never thought possible to reach the proper lever or switch. Thankfully, Land Rover has a solution.

The automaker will present a new Discovery at the 2016 Paris Motor Show, and the vehicle will equip a world-first feature called Intelligent Seat Fold. Using Land Rover’s InControl Remote smartphone app, drivers will be able to adjust their interior layout from anywhere in the world, a claim the brand tested recently by throwing Bear Grylls out of a plane.

What, did you have a better idea?

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Read more: Land Rover’s revamped, restyled Discovery is coming to the 2016 Paris Motor Show

As shown in the short video above, Grylls was able to raise a Discovery’s second and third row seats while slicing through the air at 125 mph, which means it should be no sweat while strolling through a parking lot. According to the brand, the seats can be fully reconfigured in just 14 seconds on any iOS or Android operating system.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

As for the Discovery itself, a revamp has been a long time coming. The iconic SUV has effectively worn the same design since 1998, so the new model is expected to look and behave quite differently than the old. Land Rover dropped a front-facing teaser image of the car on Monday, and if the camouflaged model shown above is any indication, the updated Disco should adopt a sleeker, rounder shape to expand its appeal. The lightweight aluminum platform that underpins the current Range Rover is also a good bet.

The wraps come off the new Discovery on September 28.

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Andrew first started writing in middle school and hasn't put the pen down since. Whether it's technology, music, sports, or…

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