Compare the2023 Land Rover Discovery SportVS 2023 Subaru Forester

Safety
Warranty
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics

Safety

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Both the Discovery Sport and Forester 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 Forester’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 help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Discovery Sport has standard Rear Traffic Monitor and Rear Traffic Braking automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Subaru charges extra for rear cross-path warning on the Forester and its not available on the Base.

The Discovery Sport has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the Forester’s blind spot costs extra.

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 Subaru Forester has a metal gas tank.

Both the Discovery Sport and the Forester have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee 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, and rearview cameras.

The Land Rover Discovery Sport weighs 485 to 826 pounds more than the Subaru Forester. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.

Warranty

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 Forester’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 Forester’s (6 vs. 5 years).

Engine

The Discovery Sport’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 64 more horsepower (246 vs. 182) and 93 lbs.-ft. more torque (269 vs. 176) than the Forester’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 Forester doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

The Discovery Sport has 1.1 gallons more fuel capacity than the Forester (17.7 vs. 16.6 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

Brakes and Stopping

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

	Discovery Sport	Forester Base	Forester
Front Rotors	13.7 inches	11.6 inches	12.4 inches
Rear Rotors	11.8 inches	11.2 inches	11.2 inches

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Discovery Sport has larger standard tires than the Forester (235/60R18 vs. 225/60R17). The Discovery Sport’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Forester (245/45R21 vs. 225/60R17).

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 Forester Sport/Limited/Touring’s 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 Forester. The Discovery Sport’s optional 21-inch wheels are larger than the 18-inch wheels on the Forester Sport/Limited/Touring.

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 Forester’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Discovery Sport’s wheelbase is 2.8 inches longer than on the Forester (107.9 inches vs. 105.1 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Discovery Sport is 2.6 inches wider in the front and 2.8 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Forester.

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

The Discovery Sport S executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Forester Touring (27.4 seconds @ .64 average G’s vs. 28.1 seconds @ .6 average G’s).

Passenger Space

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

Cargo Capacity

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

	Discovery Sport	Forester
Length to seat (3rd/2nd/1st)	8.9”/38.5”/69.7”	n.a./35.7”/73.1”
Max Width	52”	51.5”
Min Width	43.5”	43.3”
Height	31.4”	34.8”

Towing

The Discovery Sport’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Forester’s (4409 vs. 1500 pounds).

Servicing Ease

The Discovery Sport uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Forester 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 Forester doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The power windows standard on both the Discovery Sport and the Forester 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 Forester prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

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 Forester’s standard passenger windows don’t open or close automatically. With the Forester Premium/Sport/Wilderness/Limited/Touring’s power windows, only the front windows open or close automatically.

On a hot day the Discovery Sport’s driver can lower all the windows from a distance using the keyless remote. The driver of the Forester can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

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 Forester’s 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 Forester 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 Forester doesn’t offer secondary sun visors.

The Discovery Sport’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Subaru only offers heated mirrors on the Forester Premium/Sport/Wilderness/Limited/Touring.

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 is only available on the Forester Wilderness/Limited/Touring.

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. The Forester doesn’t offer wireless personal charging.