Compare the2023 Land Rover Discovery SportVS 2023 Porsche Macan

Both the Discovery Sport and Macan 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 Macan’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 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 Macan’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 Macan 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 Macan doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Discovery Sport and the Macan have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems 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 Macan:

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 Macan (5). This means the Discovery Sport produces up to 8 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Macan 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 a seven-speed automatic is available for the Macan.

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

For greater off-road capability the Discovery Sport has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Macan (8.3 vs. 7.9 inches), allowing the Discovery Sport to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Discovery Sport is 5.1 inches shorter than the Macan, making the Discovery Sport easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The design of the Land Rover Discovery Sport amounts to more than styling. The Discovery Sport has an aerodynamic coefficient of drag of .34 Cd. That is lower than the Macan (.35 to .37). A more efficient exterior helps keep the interior quieter and helps the Discovery Sport get better fuel mileage.

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

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the Discovery Sport’s available middle row seats recline. The Macan’s rear seats don’t recline.

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

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 Macan doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The Discovery Sport has a much higher standard payload capacity than the Macan (1515 vs. 1288 lbs.).

The Discovery Sport has a much higher maximum payload capacity than the Macan (1670 vs. 1383 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 Macan doesn’t offer a remote starting system.

The Discovery Sport SE offers an optional heads-up display that projects speed and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Macan doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

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 Macan 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 Macan only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

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 Macan 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 Macan doesn’t offer secondary sun visors.

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 Macan.

Insurance will cost less for the Discovery Sport owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Discovery Sport will cost $2190 to $6230 less than the Macan 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 $3925 to $18784 less than for the Porsche Macan.