Compare the2023 Land Rover DiscoveryVS 2023 Dodge Durango

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Ergonomics

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Land Rover Discovery have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Dodge Durango doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.

Both the Discovery and Durango have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Discovery has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Durango’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Discovery. But it costs extra on the Durango.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Discovery’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The Durango doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.

The Discovery’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the Durango and is not available with SXT.

The Discovery has a standard 3D Surround Camera to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Durango only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

The Discovery’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Durango doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Discovery and the Durango have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras and rear cross-path warning.

Warranty

The Discovery comes with a full 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Durango’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 14,000 miles sooner.

The Discovery’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the Durango’s (6 vs. 5 years).

Reliability

For smoother operation, better efficiency and fewer moving parts, the engines in the Discovery have an overhead cam design, rather than the old pushrod design of the 5.7 V8 in the Durango.

Engine

The Discovery has more powerful engines than the Durango:

	Horsepower	Torque
Discovery 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder	296 HP	295 lbs.-ft.
Discovery P360 3.0 turbo/supercharged 6-cylinder hybrid	355 HP	369 lbs.-ft.
Durango 3.6 DOHC V6	293 HP	260 lbs.-ft.
Durango 3.6 DOHC V6	295 HP	260 lbs.-ft.

As tested in Car and Driver the Discovery P360 3.0 turbo/supercharged 6-cylinder hybrid is faster than the Dodge Durango V6:

	Discovery	Durango
Zero to 60 MPH	6.3 sec	7.8 sec
Zero to 100 MPH	16.1 sec	20.9 sec
5 to 60 MPH Rolling Start	6.9 sec	8.3 sec
Passing 30 to 50 MPH	4.1 sec	4.2 sec
Passing 50 to 70 MPH	4.5 sec	5.7 sec
Quarter Mile	14.7 sec	16 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	96 MPH	88 MPH
Top Speed	132 MPH	117 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Discovery gets better mileage than the Durango:

			MPG
Discovery
	AWD	3.0 turbo/supercharged 6-cyl. Hybrid	19 city/25 hwy
		2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	19 city/22 hwy
Durango
	RWD	5.7 OHV V8	14 city/22 hwy
	AWD	3.6 DOHC V6	18 city/25 hwy
		5.7 OHV V8	14 city/22 hwy

Regardless of its engine, the Discovery’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip. Dodge only offers an automatic engine start/stop system on the Durango V6.

Environmental Friendliness

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Land Rover Discovery higher (7 out of 10) than the Dodge Durango (5 to 7). This means the Discovery produces up to 8 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Durango every 15,000 miles.

Tires and Wheels

The Discovery’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 55 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Durango SXT’s standard 60 series tires. The Discovery’s optional tires have a lower 40 series profile than the Durango R/T’s optional 45 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Discovery has standard 20-inch wheels. Smaller 18-inch wheels are standard on the Durango SXT. The Discovery’s optional 22-inch wheels are larger than the 20-inch wheels optional on the Durango.

Suspension and Handling

The Discovery has standard front and rear stabilizer bars, which help keep the Discovery flat and controlled during cornering. The Durango’s suspension doesn’t offer a rear stabilizer bar.

The front and rear suspension of the Discovery uses air springs for a smoother, controlled ride than the Durango, which uses coil springs. Air springs maintain proper ride height and ride more smoothly.

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Discovery is 2.7 inches wider in the front and 2.3 inches wider in the rear than on the Durango.

The Discovery R-Dynamic S handles at .79 G’s, while the Durango GT pulls only .75 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Discovery R-Dynamic S executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Durango GT 4x4 (28.1 seconds @ .6 average G’s vs. 28.8 seconds @ .58 average G’s).

For greater off-road capability the Discovery has a 3 inches greater minimum ground clearance than the Durango (11.1 vs. 8.1 inches), allowing the Discovery to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

Chassis

The Discovery is 5.7 inches shorter than the Durango, making the Discovery easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

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

Passenger Space

The Discovery has .8 inches more front hip room, 1.9 inches more front shoulder room, .2 inches more rear hip room, 1.8 inches more rear shoulder room and .1 inches more third row headroom than the Durango.

Flexibility is maximized at the game, campground or a drive-in theatre in the Discovery when its optional tailgating rear seats are deployed, allowing people to sit facing out of the liftgate. (Do not use while vehicle is in motion.) The Durango doesn’t offer tailgating seats.

Cargo Capacity

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

	Discovery	Durango
Third Seat Folded	45 cubic feet	43.3 cubic feet

The Discovery has a standard third row seat which folds flat into the floor. This completely clears a very large cargo area quickly. The Durango doesn’t offer seats that fold into the floor.

Pressing a button automatically lowers or raises the Discovery’s second and third row seats, to make changing between cargo and passengers easier. The Durango doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the Discovery’s available liftgate can be opened and closed just by kicking your foot under the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The Durango doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its liftgate, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

Ergonomics

Unlike the driver-only memory system optional in the Durango (except SXT), the Discovery offers an optional driver and passenger memory, so that when drivers switch, the memory setting adjusts the driver’s seat, steering wheel position and outside mirror angle and the front passenger seat also adjusts to the new passenger’s preset preferences.

The Discovery offers an optional heads-up display that projects speed and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Durango doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Discovery’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Durango’s parking brake has to be released manually.

The Discovery’s front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Durango’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

The Discovery’s rain-sensitive wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically based on the amount of rainfall on the windshield. This allows the driver to concentrate on driving without constantly adjusting the wipers. The Durango’s standard intermittent wipers change speed with vehicle speed, but can’t turn on and off or change speed based on changing rainfall.

Heated windshield washer nozzles are optional on the Discovery to prevent washer fluid and nozzles from freezing and help continue to keep the windshield clear in sub-freezing temperatures. The Durango doesn’t offer heated windshield washer nozzles.

In poor weather, headlights can lose their effectiveness as grime builds up on their lenses. This can reduce visibility without the driver realizing. The Discovery HSE/Metropolitan offers available headlight washers to keep headlight output high. The Durango doesn’t offer headlight washers.

The Discovery has standard heated front and optional heated second and third row seats, which keep the driver and passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Dodge doesn’t offer heated seats in the third row of the Durango.

The Discovery HSE/Metropolitan has standard front air conditioned seats and the Discovery offers them optionally in the second row. This keeps the passengers comfortable and takes the sting out of hot seats in summer. The Durango doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats for the second row.

The Discovery HSE/Metropolitan offers optional massaging front seats in order to maximize comfort and eliminate fatigue on long trips. Massaging seats aren’t available in the Durango.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Land Rover Discovery has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. The Durango doesn’t offer wireless personal charging.

The Discovery’s Park Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, with the driver only controlling speed with the brake pedal. The Durango doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

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