Compare the2023 Land Rover Discovery SportVS 2023 Porsche Cayenne

Both the Discovery Sport and Cayenne 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 Cayenne’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 Discovery Sport’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the Cayenne.

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. A system to reveal vehicles in the Cayenne’s blind spot costs extra.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Discovery Sport’s standard Rear Traffic Monitor uses sensors in the rear to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side and Rear Traffic Braking automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. The Cayenne doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.

The Discovery Sport’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Cayenne doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Discovery Sport and the Cayenne 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 and rearview cameras.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Land Rover vehicles are better in initial quality than Porsche vehicles. With 7 fewer problems per 100 vehicles, JD Power ranks Land Rover higher than Porsche.

On the EPA test cycle the Discovery Sport gets better mileage than the Cayenne running its gasoline engine:

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 Porsche Cayenne (3 to 5). This means the Discovery Sport produces up to 24.5 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Cayenne 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 Cayenne.

In an emergency stopping situation, many drivers don’t press the brakes with enough force to stop the vehicle in the shortest distance. The Discovery Sport has a standard Emergency Brake Assist to detect emergency braking situations (by how hard and how quickly the brake pedal is pressed) and then automatically apply maximum braking immediately in order to help prevent a collision. The Cayenne doesn’t offer a brake assist feature.

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

For greater off-road capability the Discovery Sport has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Cayenne (8.3 vs. 8.2 inches), allowing the Discovery Sport to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Land Rover Discovery Sport may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 500 to 1400 pounds less than the Porsche Cayenne.

The Discovery Sport is 1 foot shorter than the Cayenne, making the Discovery Sport easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

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

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

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 Cayenne doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The Discovery Sport has a much higher standard payload capacity than the Cayenne (1515 vs. 1104 lbs.).

The Discovery Sport has a standard remote vehicle starting system, so the vehicle can be started from inside the driver's house. This allows the driver to comfortably warm up the engine before going out to the vehicle. The climate system will also automatically heat or cool the interior. The Cayenne doesn’t offer a remote starting system.

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

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the Discovery Sport has a standard rear fixed intermittent wiper with a full on position. The rear wiper standard on the Cayenne only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

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. Wireless charging costs extra on the Cayenne.

Insurance will cost less for the Discovery Sport owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Discovery Sport will cost $2565 to $12035 less than the Cayenne over a five-year period.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the Land Rover Discovery Sport will be $16775 to $86766 less than for the Porsche Cayenne.