Compare the2023 Land Rover Discovery SportVS 2023 Kia Sportage Hybrid

Both the Discovery Sport and Sportage Hybrid 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 Hybrid’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 Hybrid 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 Hybrid.

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 Hybrid EX/SX-Prestige 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 Hybrid EX/SX-Prestige offers a blind spot warning system.

Both the Discovery Sport and the Sportage Hybrid 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.

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

The Discovery Sport’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 19 more horsepower (246 vs. 227) and 11 lbs.-ft. more torque (269 vs. 258) than the Sportage Hybrid’s 1.6 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid.

Both the Discovery Sport and Sportage Hybrid have a standard automatic start/stop engine feature to stop unnecessary fuel waste and pollution at stoplights and heavy traffic. The Discovery Sport has a standard disable switch for the system, so a driver can keep the engine from shutting off when the vehicle stops temporarily.

The Discovery Sport has 4 gallons more fuel capacity than the Sportage Hybrid (17.7 vs. 13.7 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

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 Hybrid.

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

For better traction, the Discovery Sport’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Sportage Hybrid (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 HEV’s standard 65 series tires. The Discovery Sport’s optional tires have a lower 45 series profile than the Sportage Hybrid EX/SX-Prestige’s 60 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 HEV. The Discovery Sport’s optional 21-inch wheels are larger than the 18-inch wheels on the Sportage Hybrid EX/SX-Prestige.

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 Hybrid; it requires you to depend on a temporary spare, which has mileage and speed limitations, or roadside assistance and a tow-truck.

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

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

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

The Discovery Sport uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Sportage Hybrid 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 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 Hybrid 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 Hybrid’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 Hybrid EX/SX-Prestige’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 Hybrid’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 Hybrid 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 Hybrid 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 Hybrid.

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 Hybrid 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 Hybrid. 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 Hybrid.

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 Hybrid EX/SX-Prestige offers wireless charging.