Compare the2023 Land Rover Discovery SportVS 2023 Hyundai Tucson

Safety
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Transmission
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Passenger Space
Payload and Towing
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics

Safety

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Both the Discovery Sport and Tucson have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Discovery Sport 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 Tucson’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.

The Land Rover Discovery Sport has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Tucson doesn’t offer knee airbags.

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

Both the Discovery Sport and the Tucson have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, 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, blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.

The Land Rover Discovery Sport weighs 423 to 949 pounds more than the Hyundai Tucson. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.

Engine

The Discovery Sport’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 59 more horsepower (246 vs. 187) and 91 lbs.-ft. more torque (269 vs. 178) than the Tucson’s 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder.

Fuel Economy and Range

Regenerative brakes improve the Discovery Sport’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Tucson doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

The Discovery Sport has 3.4 gallons more fuel capacity than the Tucson (17.7 vs. 14.3 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

Environmental Friendliness

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

Transmission

A nine-speed automatic is standard on the Land Rover Discovery Sport, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only an eight-speed automatic is available for the Tucson.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the Discovery Sport’s front brake rotors are larger than those on the Tucson:

	Discovery Sport	Tucson
Front Rotors	13.7 inches	12.8 inches

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Discovery Sport’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Tucson (245/45R21 vs. 235/65R17).

The Discovery Sport’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 60 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Tucson’s standard 65 series tires. The Discovery Sport’s optional tires have a lower 45 series profile than the Tucson’s optional 55 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Discovery Sport has standard 18-inch wheels. Smaller 17-inch wheels are standard on the Tucson. The Discovery Sport’s optional 21-inch wheels are larger than the 19-inch wheels optional on the Tucson.

The Discovery Sport has a standard full size spare (not available on 7-Passenger) so a flat doesn’t interrupt your trip. A full size spare isn’t available on the Tucson; it requires you to depend on roadside assistance and your vehicle will have to be towed.

Suspension and Handling

The Discovery Sport offers an optional driver-adjustable suspension system. It allows the driver to choose between an extra-supple ride, reducing fatigue on long trips, or a sport setting, which allows maximum control for tricky roads or off-road. The Tucson’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

The Discovery Sport has vehicle speed sensitive variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Tucson doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

Passenger Space

The Discovery Sport offers optional seating for 7 passengers; the Tucson can only carry 5.

Payload and Towing

The Discovery Sport’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Tucson’s (4409 vs. 2000 pounds).

The Discovery Sport has a much higher standard payload capacity than the Tucson (1515 vs. 1301 lbs.).

The Discovery Sport has a much higher maximum payload capacity than the Tucson (1670 vs. 1305 lbs.).

Servicing Ease

The Discovery Sport uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Tucson uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

Ergonomics

The Discovery Sport SE 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 Tucson doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Discovery Sport’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 Tucson’s standard power window switches have to be held the entire time to close them fully. Only its driver’s window opens automatically. With the Tucson SEL/XRT/N Line/Limited’s power windows, only the front windows open or close automatically.

The Discovery Sport’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 Tucson’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

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 Sport offers available headlight washers to keep headlight output high. The Tucson doesn’t offer headlight washers.

To better shield the driver and front passenger’s vision, the Discovery Sport has standard dual-element sun visors that can block glare from two directions simultaneously. The Tucson doesn’t offer secondary sun visors.

The Discovery Sport’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Hyundai only offers heated mirrors on the Tucson SEL/XRT/N Line/Limited.

When the Discovery Sport with available tilt-down mirrors is put in reverse, both rearview mirrors tilt from their original position. This gives the driver a better view of the curb during parallel parking maneuvers. Shifting out of reverse puts the mirrors into their original positions. The Tucson’s mirrors don’t automatically adjust for backing.

The Discovery Sport’s standard rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Tucson offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

The Discovery Sport has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning costs extra on the Tucson and isn’t available on the Tucson SE.

The Discovery Sport’s standard automatic temperature control maintains the temperature you set, automatically controlling fan speed, vents and temperature to maintain a consistent, comfortable environment. The Tucson SE doesn’t offer automatic air conditioning.

Both the Discovery Sport and the Tucson offer rear vents. For greater rear passenger comfort, the Discovery Sport has available rear air conditioning vents to keep rear occupants cool in summer or warm in winter. The Tucson doesn’t offer rear air conditioning vents, only heat vents.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Land Rover Discovery Sport has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. Only the Tucson SEL/XRT/N Line/Limited offers wireless charging.

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