Compare the2023 Kia SorentoVS 2023 Land Rover Discovery

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Kia Sorento 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 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 Sorento are reminded to check the back seat when a sensor determines the back seat is occupied. The Discovery doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Kia Sorento 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 Discovery doesn’t offer knee airbags.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Sorento Prestige has standard Parking Collision Avoidance-Rear that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Discovery doesn’t offer automatic braking for stationary objects directly to the rear.

Both the Sorento and the Discovery 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, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its available headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Sorento the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2022, a rating granted to only 175 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Discovery has not been tested, yet.

The Sorento comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Discovery’s 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 10,000 miles sooner.

Kia’s powertrain warranty covers the Sorento 6 years and 50,000 miles longer than Land Rover covers the Discovery. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Discovery ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

There are almost 4 times as many Kia dealers as there are Land Rover dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Sorento’s warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Kia vehicles are better in initial quality than Land Rover vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia fourth in initial quality, above the industry average. With 37 more problems per 100 vehicles, Land Rover is ranked 22nd, below the industry average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the statistics that show that Kia vehicles are more reliable than Land Rover vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia first in reliability, above the industry average. With 139 more problems per 100 vehicles, Land Rover is ranked 32nd.

The Sorento 2.5T’s standard 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 16 lbs.-ft. more torque (311 vs. 295) than the Discovery’s standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

As tested in Motor Trend the Sorento 2.5T 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder is faster than the Discovery P360 3.0 turbo/supercharged 6-cylinder hybrid:

On the EPA test cycle the Sorento gets better mileage than the Discovery:

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Kia Sorento uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Discovery requires premium, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

The Sorento offers an available sequential manual gearbox (SMG). With no clutch pedal to worry about and a fully automatic mode, an SMG is much more efficient than a conventional automatic but just as easy to drive. The Discovery doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

The Sorento stops much shorter than the Discovery:

The Sorento X-Line SX Prestige handles at .85 G’s, while the Discovery R-Dynamic S pulls only .76 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Sorento X-Line SX Prestige executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.6 seconds quicker than the Discovery R-Dynamic S (26.5 seconds @ .67 average G’s vs. 28.1 seconds @ .6 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Sorento’s turning circle is 2.8 feet tighter than the Discovery’s (37.9 feet vs. 40.7 feet).

The Kia Sorento may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 1050 to 1150 pounds less than the Land Rover Discovery.

The Sorento is 6.1 inches shorter than the Discovery, making the Sorento easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The Sorento is 6.8 inches narrower than the Discovery, making the Sorento easier to handle and maneuver in traffic.

The Sorento is 7.6 inches shorter in height than the Discovery, making the Sorento much easier to wash and garage and drive (lower center of gravity).

The Sorento has .9 inches more front headroom, 2.3 inches more front legroom, .1 inches more rear headroom, 4.3 inches more rear legroom, .5 inches more third row hip room and 5.9 inches more third row shoulder room than the Discovery.

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

A standard locking glovebox (which can’t be accessed with the valet key) keeps your small valuables safer in the Sorento. The Discovery doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

On a hot day the Sorento’s driver can lower all the windows from a distance using the keyless remote. The driver of the Discovery can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

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

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the Sorento to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The Discovery doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

The Sorento Prestige has a 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 doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

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

Insurance will cost less for the Sorento owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Sorento will cost $1480 to $6625 less than the Discovery over a five-year period.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the Kia Sorento will be $26709 to $27234 less than for the Land Rover Discovery.

Motor Trend performed a comparison test in its December 2021 issue and they ranked the Kia Sorento X-Line SX Prestige higher than the Land Rover Discovery R-Dynamic S.

The Kia Sorento outsold the Land Rover Discovery by over 61 to one during 2022.