Compare the2023 Land Rover Discovery SportVS 2023 Volkswagen Tiguan

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Transmission
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Payload and Towing
Ergonomics

Safety

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Both the Discovery Sport and Tiguan 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 Tiguan’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 Tiguan 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 Tiguan.

The Discovery Sport’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 Tiguan.

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 Tiguan doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Discovery Sport and the Tiguan 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.

Warranty

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

Reliability

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.

Engine

The Discovery Sport’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 62 more horsepower (246 vs. 184) and 48 lbs.-ft. more torque (269 vs. 221) than the Tiguan’s 2.0 turbo 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 Tiguan doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

The Discovery Sport has 2.4 gallons more fuel capacity than the Tiguan FWD’s standard fuel tank (17.7 vs. 15.3 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups. The Discovery Sport has 1.8 gallons more fuel capacity than the Tiguan AWD’s standard fuel tank (17.7 vs. 15.9 gallons).

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 Tiguan.

Brakes and Stopping

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

	Discovery Sport	Tiguan
Front Rotors	13.7 inches	13.4 inches

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Discovery Sport has larger standard tires than the Tiguan (235/60R18 vs. 215/65R17).

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 Tiguan S’ standard 65 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 Tiguan S. The Discovery Sport’s optional 21-inch wheels are larger than the 20-inch wheels on the Tiguan SEL R-Line.

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

Suspension and Handling

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

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Discovery Sport is 2 inches wider in the front and 2.6 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Tiguan.

The Discovery Sport S handles at .82 G’s, while the Tiguan 4Motion® pulls only .77 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 Tiguan 4Motion® (27.4 seconds @ .64 average G’s vs. 28.3 seconds @ .58 average G’s).

For greater off-road capability the Discovery Sport has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Tiguan (8.3 vs. 7.6 inches), allowing the Discovery Sport to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

Chassis

The Discovery Sport is 5.1 inches shorter than the Tiguan, making the Discovery Sport easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

Passenger Space

The Discovery Sport has .3 inches more front shoulder room, 1.5 inches more rear legroom and .6 inches more third row headroom than the Tiguan.

Payload and Towing

The Discovery Sport’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Tiguan’s (4409 vs. 1500 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 Tiguan doesn’t offer electronic trailer sway control.

The Discovery Sport has a much higher standard payload capacity than the Tiguan (1515 vs. 937 lbs.).

The Discovery Sport has a much higher maximum payload capacity than the Tiguan (1670 vs. 1157 lbs.).

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 Tiguan doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

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 Tiguan can’t use the remote to operate the windows.

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 Tiguan’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

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 Tiguan 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 Tiguan 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 Tiguan 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 Tiguan offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

Both the Discovery Sport and the Tiguan have standard heated front seats. The Discovery Sport also offers optional heated second row seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated second row seats aren’t available in the Tiguan.

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 Tiguan SE/SEL.

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 Tiguan SE/SEL offers wireless charging.

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