Compare the2023 Land Rover Discovery SportVS 2023 Mazda CX-9

Both the Discovery Sport and CX-9 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 CX-9’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 CX-9 doesn’t offer knee airbags.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Discovery Sport’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The CX-9 doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.

Compared to metal, the Discovery Sport’s plastic fuel tank can withstand harder, more intrusive impacts without leaking; this decreases the possibility of fire. The Mazda CX-9 has a metal gas tank.

Both the Discovery Sport and the CX-9 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.

The Discovery Sport comes with a full 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The CX-9’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 14,000 miles sooner.

The Discovery Sport’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the CX-9’s (6 vs. 5 years).

Regenerative brakes improve the Discovery Sport’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The CX-9 doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the Discovery Sport’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip. The CX-9 doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

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 Mazda CX-9 (5). This means the Discovery Sport produces up to 8 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the CX-9 every 15,000 miles.

A nine-speed automatic is standard on the Land Rover Discovery Sport, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only a six-speed automatic is available for the CX-9.

For better stopping power the Discovery Sport’s front brake rotors are larger than those on the CX-9:

The Discovery Sport’s optional tires provide better handling because they have a lower 45 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the CX-9 Touring Plus/Carbon Edition/Grand Touring/Signature’s 50 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Discovery Sport offers optional 21-inch wheels. The CX-9’s largest wheels are only 20-inches.

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 CX-9’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

The Discovery Sport S handles at .82 G’s, while the CX-9 Touring pulls only .79 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Land Rover Discovery Sport may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 150 to 300 pounds less than the Mazda CX-9.

The Discovery Sport is 1 foot, 6.4 inches shorter than the CX-9, making the Discovery Sport easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The Discovery Sport has .2 inches more front headroom and .2 inches more rear headroom than the CX-9.

A control in the cargo area automatically lowers the Discovery Sport with 5+2 Seating’s second row seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The CX-9 doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The Discovery Sport’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the CX-9’s (4409 vs. 3500 pounds).

The Discovery Sport uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The CX-9 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.

The Discovery Sport has a maintenance free battery for long life without checking the battery’s water level. The CX-9 doesn’t have a maintenance free battery, so the water level in the battery’s cells must be checked often to prevent damage.

The power windows standard on both the Discovery Sport and the CX-9 have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Discovery Sport is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The CX-9 prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

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 CX-9 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 CX-9 doesn’t offer secondary sun visors.

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 CX-9’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 CX-9 has an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

Insurance will cost less for the Discovery Sport owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Discovery Sport will cost $140 less than the CX-9 over a five-year period.

The Discovery Sport will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The IntelliChoice estimates that the Discovery Sport will retain 45.39% to 45.58% of its original price after five years, while the CX-9 only retains 42.92% to 44.59%.