Compare the2023 Land Rover Discovery SportVS 2023 Kia Sportage

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

Safety

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Both the Discovery Sport and Sportage 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 Sportage’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 Sportage 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 Sportage.

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. Only the Sportage EX/SX/Prestige/X-Line/X-Pro offers Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning.

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. Only the Sportage EX/SX/Prestige/X-Line/X-Pro offers a blind spot warning system.

Both the Discovery Sport and the Sportage 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, and driver alert monitors.

Warranty

The Discovery Sport’s corrosion warranty is 1 year and unlimited miles longer than the Sportage’s (6/unlimited vs. 5/100,000).

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 Sportage’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 Sportage doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

The Discovery Sport has 3.4 gallons more fuel capacity than the Sportage (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 Kia Sportage (5). This means the Discovery Sport produces up to 8 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Sportage 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 Sportage.

Brakes and Stopping

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

	Discovery Sport	Sportage
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 Sportage (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 Sportage LX/X-Pro’s standard 65 series tires. The Discovery Sport’s optional tires have a lower 45 series profile than the Sportage SX Prestige/X-Line’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 Sportage LX/X-Pro. The Discovery Sport’s optional 21-inch wheels are larger than the 19-inch wheels on the Sportage SX Prestige/X-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 Sportage; it requires you to depend on a temporary spare, which has mileage and speed limitations, or roadside assistance and a tow-truck.

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

Passenger Space

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

Towing

The Discovery Sport’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Sportage’s (4409 vs. 2500 pounds).

Servicing Ease

The Discovery Sport uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Sportage 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 Sportage 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 Sportage’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 Sportage EX/SX/Prestige/X-Line/X-Pro’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 Sportage’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 Sportage 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 Sportage doesn’t offer secondary sun visors.

The Discovery Sport’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Kia charges extra for heated mirrors on the Sportage.

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

The Discovery Sport has standard heated front seats. Heated front seats cost extra on the Sportage. The Discovery Sport also offers optional heated second row seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the Sportage.

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 Sportage EX/SX/Prestige/X-Line/X-Pro.

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 Sportage EX/SX/Prestige/X-Line/X-Pro offers wireless charging.

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