Compare the2023 Mazda CX-30VS 2023 Land Rover Discovery Sport

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Mazda CX-30 have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Land Rover Discovery Sport doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Mazda CX-30 are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The Land Rover Discovery Sport doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.

The Mazda CX-30 has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

The CX-30 has standard Whiplash-Reducing Headrests, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Whiplash-Reducing Headrests system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The CX-30 Turbo Premium Plus has standard Rear Smart Brake Support that use rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer automatic braking for stationary objects directly to the rear.

The CX-30 Turbo Premium Plus has a standard 360° View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Discovery Sport only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

Both the CX-30 and the Discovery Sport have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors, available blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, and daytime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the CX-30 the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2023, a rating granted to only 53 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Discovery Sport has not been tested, yet.

Mazda’s powertrain warranty covers the CX-30 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than Land Rover covers the Discovery Sport. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Coverage on the Discovery Sport ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

There are almost 3 times as many Mazda dealers as there are Land Rover dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the CX-30’s warranty.

A reliable vehicle saves its owner time, money and trouble. Nobody wants to be stranded or have to be without a vehicle while it’s being repaired. Consumer Reports rates the CX-30’s reliability 22 points higher than the Discovery Sport.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Mazda vehicles are better in initial quality than Land Rover vehicles. With 13 fewer problems per 100 vehicles, JD Power ranks Mazda higher than Land Rover.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Mazda vehicles are more reliable than Land Rover vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Mazda above average in long-term dependability. With 13 more problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, Land Rover is rated below average.

The CX-30’s optional 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 4 more horsepower (250 vs. 246) and 51 lbs.-ft. more torque (320 vs. 269) than the Discovery Sport’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

On the EPA test cycle the CX-30 gets better mileage than the Discovery Sport:

An engine control system that can shut down some of the engine’s cylinders helps improve the CX-30 (except Turbo)’s fuel efficiency. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer a system that can shut down part of the engine.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Mazda CX-30 uses regular unleaded gasoline (premium recommended with the 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder engine for maximum performance). The Discovery Sport requires premium, which can cost 20 to 55 cents more per gallon.

The CX-30 Premium handles at .83 G’s, while the Discovery Sport S pulls only .82 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

For better maneuverability, the CX-30’s turning circle is 3.9 feet tighter than the Discovery Sport’s (34.8 feet vs. 38.7 feet).

The Mazda CX-30 may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 700 to 750 pounds less than the Land Rover Discovery Sport.

The CX-30 is 8 inches shorter than the Discovery Sport, making the CX-30 easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The CX-30 has a much larger cargo volume than the Discovery Sport with its rear seat up (20.2 vs. 6.9 cubic feet).

To help drivers see further while navigating curves, the CX-30 Premium has standard adaptive headlights to illuminate around corners automatically by reading vehicle speed and steering wheel angle. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer cornering lights.

To shield the driver and front passenger’s vision over a larger portion of the windshield and side windows, the CX-30 has standard extendable sun visors. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer extendable visors.

The Mazda CX-30 outsold the Land Rover Discovery Sport by over 8 to one during 2022.