Compare the2018 GMC AcadiaVS 2018 Land Rover Discovery Sport

The Acadia Denali’s optional pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

For enhanced safety, the GMC Acadia’s middle seat shoulder belts have child comfort guides to move the belt to properly fit children. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages children to buckle up. The Land Rover Discovery Sport doesn’t offer height adjustable seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Acadia are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Acadia has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

Both the Acadia and the Discovery Sport have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available all-wheel drive, crash mitigating brakes, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, around view monitors and rear cross-path warning.

For its top level performance in all IIHS frontal, side, rear impact and roof-crush tests, and with its optional front crash prevention system, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Acadia the rating of “Top Pick” for 2017, a rating granted to only 148 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Discovery Sport has not been tested, yet.

GMC’s powertrain warranty covers the Acadia 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than Land Rover covers the Discovery Sport. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Coverage on the Discovery Sport ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

GMC pays for scheduled maintenance on the Acadia for 2 years and 24,000 miles. GMC will pay for oil changes, lubrication and any other required maintenance (up to 2 oil changes). Land Rover only pays for the first scheduled maintenance visit on the Discovery Sport.

There are over 10 times as many GMC dealers as there are Land Rover dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Acadia’s warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2017 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that GMC vehicles are better in initial quality than Land Rover vehicles. J.D. Power ranks GMC 16th in initial quality. With 32 more problems per 100 vehicles, Land Rover is ranked 28th.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2018 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that GMC vehicles are more reliable than Land Rover vehicles. J.D. Power ranks GMC 18th in reliability. With 48 more problems per 100 vehicles, Land Rover is ranked 30th.

The Acadia’s optional 3.6 DOHC V6 produces 24 more horsepower (310 vs. 286) than the Discovery Sport’s optional 2.0 turbo 4 cyl.

As tested in Motor Trend the GMC Acadia V6 is faster than the Land Rover Discovery Sport 2.0:

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the GMC Acadia uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Discovery Sport requires premium, which can cost 20 to 55 cents more per gallon.

The Acadia FWD’s standard fuel tank has almost a gallon more fuel capacity than the Discovery Sport (19.4 vs. 18.5 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups. The Acadia AWD’s standard fuel tank has 3.2 gallons more fuel capacity than the Discovery Sport (21.7 vs. 18.5 gallons).

The Acadia has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

The Acadia’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the Discovery Sport are solid, not vented.

The GMC Acadia’s wheels have 6 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Land Rover Discovery Sport only has 5 wheel lugs per wheel.

The Acadia has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Acadia’s wheelbase is 4.6 inches longer than on the Discovery Sport (112.5 inches vs. 107.9 inches).

The Acadia SLT AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Discovery Sport HSE (26.9 seconds @ .67 average G’s vs. 27.4 seconds @ .64 average G’s).

The Acadia is 6.1 inches narrower than the Discovery Sport, making the Acadia easier to handle and maneuver in traffic.

The front grille of the Acadia FWD 4 cyl. uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Acadia uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

The Acadia has .2 inches more front headroom, 2 inches more front shoulder room, .9 inches more rear headroom, .4 inches more rear legroom and 2.4 inches more rear shoulder room than the Discovery Sport.

The Acadia’s cargo area provides more volume than the Discovery Sport.

The Acadia’s cargo area is larger than the Discovery Sport’s in almost every dimension:

To shield the driver and front passenger’s vision over a larger portion of the windshield and side windows, the Acadia has standard extendable sun visors. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer extendable visors.

The Acadia SLT/Denali has a 115-volt a/c outlet on the center console, allowing you to recharge a laptop or run small household appliances without special adapters that can break or get misplaced. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

The Acadia is available in both front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive configurations. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.

The Acadia will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The IntelliChoice estimates that the Acadia will retain 46.28% to 52.71% of its original price after five years, while the Discovery Sport only retains 42.65% to 42.95%.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the GMC Acadia will be $6527 to $9829 less than for the Land Rover Discovery Sport.

The GMC Acadia outsold the Land Rover Discovery Sport by almost eight to one during 2017.