Compare the2023 GMC Acadia VS 2023 Land Rover Discovery Sport

The Acadia Denali’s optional pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

For enhanced safety, the front and middle seat shoulder belts of the GMC Acadia 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.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Acadia are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Acadia has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

The Acadia SLT/AT4/Denali offers an optional Surround Vision System 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 Acadia and the Discovery Sport 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, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available all wheel drive.

For its top level performance in all IIHS frontal, side, rear impact and roof-crush tests, and its standard front crash prevention system, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Acadia the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2017, a rating granted to only 233 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Discovery Sport has not been tested, yet.

GMC’s powertrain warranty covers the Acadia 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 over 8 times as many GMC dealers as there are Land Rover dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Acadia’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 Acadia’s reliability 14 points higher than the Discovery Sport.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Acadia third among upper midsize suvs in their 2022 Initial Quality Study. The Discovery Sport isn’t in the top three in its category.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that GMC vehicles are better in initial quality than Land Rover vehicles. J.D. Power ranks GMC above average in initial quality. With 31 more problems per 100 vehicles, Land Rover is rated below average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that GMC vehicles are more reliable than Land Rover With 92 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks GMC higher than Land Rover.

The Acadia’s optional 3.6 DOHC V6 produces 64 more horsepower (310 vs. 246) and 2 lbs.-ft. more torque (271 vs. 269) than the Discovery Sport’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

On the EPA test cycle the Acadia gets better mileage than the Discovery Sport:

			MPG
Acadia
	FWD	3.6 DOHC V6	19 city/27 hwy
		2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	22 city/29 hwy
	AWD	3.6 DOHC V6	19 city/26 hwy
		2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	22 city/27 hwy
Discovery Sport
	AWD	2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	19 city/23 hwy

An engine control system that can shut down some of the engine’s cylinders helps improve the Acadia’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 GMC Acadia uses regular unleaded gasoline (premium recommended with the 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder engine for maximum performance). The Discovery Sport requires premium, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

The Acadia FWD’s standard fuel tank has 1.7 gallons more fuel capacity than the Discovery Sport (19.4 vs. 17.7 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups. The Acadia AWD’s standard fuel tank has 4 gallons more fuel capacity than the Discovery Sport (21.7 vs. 17.7 gallons).

The Acadia has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

The Acadia’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the Discovery Sport are solid, not vented.

For better traction, the Acadia AT4’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Discovery Sport (255/65R17 vs. 245/45R21).

The GMC Acadia’s wheels have 6 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Land Rover Discovery Sport only has 5 wheel lugs per wheel.

The Acadia has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Acadia’s wheelbase is 4.6 inches longer than on the Discovery Sport (112.5 inches vs. 107.9 inches).

The Acadia SLT AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Discovery Sport S (26.9 seconds @ .67 average G’s vs. 27.4 seconds @ .64 average G’s).

The front grille of the Acadia FWD 4 cyl. uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Acadia uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

The Acadia has .5 inches more front headroom, 1.9 inches more front legroom, 2.1 inches more front shoulder room, .9 inches more rear headroom, 1.6 inches more rear legroom, 2.8 inches more rear shoulder room, 2.8 inches more third row headroom, 4.1 inches more third row legroom and 7.2 inches more third row shoulder room than the Discovery Sport.

The Acadia’s cargo area provides more volume than the Discovery Sport.

	Acadia	Discovery Sport
Behind Third Seat	12.8 cubic feet	6.9 cubic feet
Third Seat Folded	41.7 cubic feet	23.2 cubic feet
Second Seat Folded	79 cubic feet	60 cubic feet

The Acadia’s cargo area is larger than the Discovery Sport’s in almost every dimension:

	Acadia	Discovery Sport
Length to seat (3rd/2nd/1st)	18.5”/48”/83”	8.9”/38.5”/69.7”
Max Width	50”	52”
Min Width	42.5”	43.5”
Height	33”	31.4”

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the Acadia’s liftgate can be opened and closed just by kicking your foot under the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its liftgate, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

The Acadia (except SLE)’s optional easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Acadia’s available exterior PIN entry system. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system, and its InControl can’t unlock the doors if the vehicle doesn’t have cell phone reception or the driver can’t contact the service.

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

Optional air-conditioned seats in the Acadia (except SLE) keep the driver and front passenger comfortable and take the sting out of hot seats in Summer. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats.

The Acadia offers an optional 115-volt a/c outlet on the center console, allowing you to recharge a laptop or run small household appliances without special adapters that can break or get misplaced. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

The Acadia is available in both front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive configurations. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.

Insurance will cost less for the Acadia owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Acadia will cost $825 less than the Discovery Sport over a five-year period.

The Acadia will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The IntelliChoice estimates that the Acadia will retain 47.29% to 50.03% of its original price after five years, while the Discovery Sport only retains 45.39% to 45.58%.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the GMC Acadia will be $7577 to $14179 less than for the Land Rover Discovery Sport.

Consumer Reports® recommends the GMC Acadia, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The GMC Acadia outsold the Land Rover Discovery Sport by over 8 to one during 2022.