Compare the2024 Subaru OutbackVS 2023 Land Rover Discovery Sport

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Subaru Outback have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. 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 Subaru Outback 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 Outback 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 Outback has standard Whiplash-Reducing Front Seats, which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Whiplash-Reducing Front Seats system allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move 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 Outback (except Base/Premium) offers optional Reverse Automatic Braking 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.

Both the Outback 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, available blind spot warning systems, rear parking sensors, rear cross-path warning and driver alert monitors.

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

Subaru’s powertrain warranty covers the Outback 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 3 times as many Subaru dealers as there are Land Rover dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Outback’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 Outback’s reliability 21 points higher than the Discovery Sport.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Subaru vehicles are better in initial quality than Land Rover vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Subaru above average in initial quality. With 18 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 Subaru vehicles are more reliable than Land Rover With 58 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Subaru higher than Land Rover.

The Outback XT/Wilderness’ standard 2.4 turbo 4-cylinder produces 14 more horsepower (260 vs. 246) and 8 lbs.-ft. more torque (277 vs. 269) than the Discovery Sport’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

The flat cylinder configuration of the boxer engine in the Outback lowers its center of gravity, enhancing handling stability (That’s why Porsche uses boxer engines.). The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer a boxer engine configuration.

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

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

The Outback has a standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). With no “steps” between gears, it can keep the engine at the most efficient speed for fuel economy, or keep it at its peak horsepower indefinitely for maximum acceleration. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer a CVT.

The Outback’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 maneuverability, the Outback’s turning circle is 2.6 feet tighter than the Discovery Sport’s (36.1 feet vs. 38.7 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Outback has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Discovery Sport (8.7 vs. 8.3 inches), allowing the Outback to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged. The Outback Wilderness’ minimum ground clearance is 1.2 inches higher than on the Discovery Sport (9.5 vs. 8.3 inches).

The Subaru Outback may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 350 to 450 pounds less than the Land Rover Discovery Sport.

The front grille of the Outback 2.5i 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 Outback has .6 inches more front headroom, 3.7 inches more front legroom, .8 inches more front shoulder room, .4 inches more rear headroom, 1.4 inches more rear legroom and 1.5 inches more rear shoulder room than the Discovery Sport.

The Outback has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the Discovery Sport with its rear seat up (32.6 vs. 6.9 cubic feet). The Outback has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Discovery Sport with its rear seat folded (75.6 vs. 60 cubic feet).

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

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

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the Outback’s liftgate can be opened just by holding your hand near the emblem on the trunk, 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 engine in the Outback is mounted longitudinally (North-South), instead of sideways, as in the Discovery Sport. This makes it easier to service and maintain, because the accessory belts are in front.

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Outback’s available exterior PIN entry system (not available on Outback Base). 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 help drivers see further while navigating curves, the Outback 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 Outback has standard extendable sun visors. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer extendable visors.

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

Standard air-conditioned seats in the Outback Touring 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.

Consumer Reports® recommends the Subaru Outback, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The Subaru Outback outsold the Land Rover Discovery Sport by over 23 to one during 2022.