Compare the2023 Land Rover Discovery SportVS 2023 Volkswagen Atlas

Both the Discovery Sport and Atlas 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 Atlas’ 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 Atlas 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 Atlas.

The Discovery Sport’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 Atlas doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Discovery Sport and the Atlas 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, rearview cameras, blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.

The Discovery Sport’s corrosion warranty is unlimited miles longer than the Atlas’ (unlimited vs. 100,000 miles).

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Land Rover vehicles are better in initial quality than Volkswagen vehicles. With 37 fewer problems per 100 vehicles, JD Power ranks Land Rover higher than Volkswagen.

The Discovery Sport’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 11 more horsepower (246 vs. 235) and 11 lbs.-ft. more torque (269 vs. 258) than the Atlas’ standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder. The Discovery Sport’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 3 lbs.-ft. more torque (269 vs. 266) than the Atlas’ optional 3.6 DOHC V6.

On the EPA test cycle the Discovery Sport gets better fuel mileage than the Atlas 3.6 DOHC V6 4Motion (19 city/23 hwy vs. 18 city/23 hwy).

Regenerative brakes improve the Discovery Sport’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Atlas doesn’t offer a regenerative braking 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 Volkswagen Atlas (3 to 5). This means the Discovery Sport produces up to 24.5 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Atlas 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 an eight-speed automatic is available for the Atlas.

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

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 Atlas; it requires you to depend on a temporary spare, which limits mileage and speed before replacement.

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

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 Atlas’ suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

The Discovery Sport S handles at .82 G’s, while the Atlas SEL 4Motion 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 Atlas SEL 4Motion (27.4 seconds @ .64 average G’s vs. 27.9 seconds @ .61 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Discovery Sport’s turning circle is 1.8 feet tighter than the Atlas’ (38.7 feet vs. 40.5 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Discovery Sport has a 1.2 inches greater minimum ground clearance than the Atlas 2.0T (8.3 vs. 7.1 inches), allowing the Discovery Sport to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged. The Discovery Sport’s minimum ground clearance is .8 inch higher than on the Atlas V6 (8.3 vs. 7.5 inches).

The Discovery Sport is 1 foot, 7.7 inches shorter than the Atlas, making the Discovery Sport easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

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 Atlas doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

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

Standard Trailer Stability Assist (TSA) on the Discovery Sport uses the Dynamic Stability Control sensors to detect trailer sway, then uses individual brakes to counteract any swaying and help keep the tow vehicle and trailer steady. The Atlas doesn’t offer electronic trailer sway control.

The Discovery Sport has a much higher standard payload capacity than the Atlas (1515 vs. 1113 lbs.).

The Discovery Sport has a much higher maximum payload capacity than the Atlas (1670 vs. 1113 lbs.).

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 Atlas doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the Discovery Sport has a standard rear fixed intermittent wiper with a full on position. The rear wiper standard on the Atlas only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

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 Atlas 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 Atlas doesn’t offer secondary sun visors.

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

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. Wireless charging costs extra on the Atlas.