Compare the2023 Land Rover Discovery SportVS 2022 Toyota Highlander

Both the Discovery Sport and Highlander 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 Highlander’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. Only the Highlander LE/XLE/XSE/Limited/Platinum offers rear cross-path 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 Highlander LE/XLE/XSE/Limited/Platinum offers a blind spot warning system.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Discovery Sport’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The Highlander Hybrid doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Discovery Sport. But it costs extra on the Highlander.

Both the Discovery Sport and the Highlander have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee 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, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, and driver alert monitors.

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

The Discovery Sport’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 6 lbs.-ft. more torque (269 vs. 263) than the Highlander’s 3.5 DOHC V6.

Regenerative brakes improve the Discovery Sport’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Highlander 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 Toyota Highlander (5). This means the Discovery Sport produces up to 8 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Highlander 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 Highlander.

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

For better traction, the Discovery Sport’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Highlander (245/45R21 vs. 235/65R18).

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 Highlander L/LE/XLE’s standard 65 series tires. The Discovery Sport’s optional tires have a lower 45 series profile than the Highlander XSE/Limited/Platinum’s 55 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Discovery Sport offers optional 21-inch wheels. The Highlander’s largest wheels are only 20-inches.

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

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

The Discovery Sport has vehicle speed sensitive variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Highlander doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

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

For greater off-road capability the Discovery Sport has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Highlander (8.3 vs. 8 inches), allowing the Discovery Sport to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Discovery Sport is 1 foot, 1.9 inches shorter than the Highlander, 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 Highlander doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The Discovery Sport has a higher standard payload capacity than the Highlander (1515 vs. 1330 lbs.).

The Discovery Sport has a much higher maximum payload capacity than the Highlander (1670 vs. 1330 lbs.).

The Discovery Sport uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Highlander 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’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 Highlander’s standard 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 Highlander 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 Highlander 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 Highlander offers 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. Only the Highlander XLE/XSE/Limited/Platinum offers wireless charging.