Compare the2023 Hyundai Santa FeVS 2022 Land Rover Discovery Sport

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Hyundai Santa Fe are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers 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 Santa Fe 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.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy has standard Parking Collision Avoidance Assist that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

The Santa Fe has a standard blind spot warning system which uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them and moves the vehicle back into its lane. A system to reveal vehicles in the Discovery Sport’s blind spot costs extra.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Santa Fe has a standard rear cross-path warning system, which uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. Rear cross-path warning costs extra on the Discovery Sport.

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

For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its standard headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Santa Fe its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2022, a rating granted to only 87 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Discovery Sport has not been tested, yet.

The Santa Fe comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Discovery Sport’s 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 10,000 miles sooner.

Hyundai’s powertrain warranty covers the Santa Fe 6 years and 50,000 miles longer than Land Rover covers the Discovery Sport. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Discovery Sport ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

The Santa Fe’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the Discovery Sport’s (7 vs. 6 years).

Hyundai pays for scheduled maintenance on the Santa Fe for 3 years and 36,000 miles. Hyundai will pay for oil changes, lubrication and any other required maintenance. Land Rover only pays for the first scheduled maintenance visit on the Discovery Sport.

There are over 4 times as many Hyundai dealers as there are Land Rover dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Santa Fe’s warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are better in initial quality than Land Rover vehicles. With 8 fewer problems per 100 vehicles, JD Power ranks Hyundai higher than Land Rover.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than Land Rover vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai third in reliability, above the industry average. With 136 more problems per 100 vehicles, Land Rover is ranked 32nd.

The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy’s standard 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 35 more horsepower (281 vs. 246) and 42 lbs.-ft. more torque (311 vs. 269) than the Discovery Sport’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

On the EPA test cycle the Santa Fe gets better mileage than the Discovery Sport:

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

The Santa Fe has 1.1 gallons more fuel capacity than the Discovery Sport (18.8 vs. 17.7 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

The Santa Fe offers an available sequential manual gearbox (SMG). With no clutch pedal to worry about and a fully automatic mode, an SMG is much more efficient than a conventional automatic but just as easy to drive. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

For better traction, the Santa Fe Calligraphy’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Discovery Sport (255/45R20 vs. 245/45R20).

The Santa Fe has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The Discovery Sport’s suspension doesn’t offer rear gas-charged shocks.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy AWD handles at .83 G’s, while the Discovery Sport S pulls only .82 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Discovery Sport S (26.7 seconds @ .67 average G’s vs. 27.4 seconds @ .64 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Santa Fe’s turning circle is 1.4 feet tighter than the Discovery Sport’s (37.4 feet vs. 38.8 feet).

The Hyundai Santa Fe may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 150 to 450 pounds less than the Land Rover Discovery Sport.

The Santa Fe is 6.7 inches narrower than the Discovery Sport, making the Santa Fe easier to handle and maneuver in traffic.

The Santa Fe has 1.7 inches more front headroom, 5 inches more front legroom, 1.8 inches more front shoulder room, .3 inches more rear headroom, 3.6 inches more rear legroom and 2.4 inches more rear shoulder room than the Discovery Sport.

The Santa Fe has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the Discovery Sport with its rear seat up (36.4 vs. 5.5 cubic feet). The Santa Fe has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Discovery Sport with its rear seat folded (72.1 vs. 55.6 cubic feet).

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

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the Santa Fe’s liftgate can be opened just by waiting momentarily behind the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its liftgate, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy’s standard easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

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

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the Santa Fe to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

Standard air-conditioned seats in the Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy keep the driver and front passenger comfortable and take the sting out of hot seats in Summer. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats.

The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy 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 Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy’s Smart Parking Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. Remote Smart Parking Assist will park and retrieve your car remotely: press a button and watch it park itself. This is ideal for tight locations. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

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

The Hyundai Santa Fe outsold the Land Rover Discovery Sport by almost 17 to one during the 2021 model year.