Compare the2024 Honda PilotVS 2023 Land Rover Discovery Sport

For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Honda Pilot have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. 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 Honda Pilot 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 Pilot 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 Honda Pilot has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Pilot EX-L/TrailSport/Touring/Elite has a standard Low-Speed Braking Control that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer automatic braking for stationary objects directly to the rear.

The Pilot TrailSport/Elite has a standard Multi-View Camera 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 Pilot 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, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive, blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.

Honda’s powertrain warranty covers the Pilot 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.

Honda pays for scheduled maintenance on the Pilot for 2 years or 24,000 miles. Honda will pay for oil changes, tire rotations, air filter replacements, cabin filter replacement, brake fluid replacement, inspections, and any other required maintenance. Land Rover doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Discovery Sport.

There are over 5 times as many Honda dealers as there are Land Rover dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Pilot’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 Pilot’s reliability 20 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 Honda vehicles are better in initial quality than Land Rover vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Honda above average in initial quality. With 13 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 Honda vehicles are more reliable than Land Rover With 54 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Honda higher than Land Rover.

The Pilot’s 3.5 DOHC V6 produces 39 more horsepower (285 vs. 246) than the Discovery Sport’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

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

An engine control system that can shut down some of the engine’s cylinders helps improve the Pilot’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 Honda Pilot uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Discovery Sport requires premium, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

The Pilot 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.

A 10-speed automatic is standard on the Honda Pilot, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only a nine-speed automatic is available for the Discovery Sport.

For better traction, the Pilot has larger standard tires than the Discovery Sport (255/50R20 vs. 235/60R18). The Pilot TrailSport’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Discovery Sport (265/60R18 vs. 245/45R21).

The Pilot 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 Pilot’s wheelbase is 5.9 inches longer than on the Discovery Sport (113.8 inches vs. 107.9 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Pilot is 3.2 inches wider in the front and 3.1 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Discovery Sport.

For better maneuverability, the Pilot TrailSport’s turning circle is 1 foot tighter than the Discovery Sport’s (37.7 feet vs. 38.7 feet). The Pilot’s turning circle is .9 feet tighter than the Discovery Sport’s (37.8 feet vs. 38.7 feet).

The front grille of the Pilot 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 Pilot 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 Pilot offers optional seating for 8 passengers; the Discovery Sport can only carry up to 7.

The Pilot has 1 inch more front headroom, 1.9 inches more front legroom, 4.6 inches more front shoulder room, 1.5 inches more rear headroom, 2.7 inches more rear legroom, 5.8 inches more rear shoulder room, 4.9 inches more third row headroom, 6.9 inches more third row legroom and 12.4 inches more third row shoulder room than the Discovery Sport.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the Pilot’s middle and third row seats recline. The Discovery Sport 5-Passenger doesn’t offer reclining middle row seats and no Discovery Sport model offers reclining third row seats.

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

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

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the Pilot Elite/Touring’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.

Maximum trailer towing in the Land Rover Discovery Sport is limited to 4409 pounds. The Pilot 4WD offers up to a 5000 lbs. towing capacity.

The Pilot EX-L/TrailSport/Touring/Elite’s standard 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.

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

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the Pilot 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 Pilot Elite 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 Pilot TrailSport/Elite 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 Sport doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

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

Consumer Reports® recommends the Honda Pilot, based on reliability, safety and performance.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Pilot third among upper midsize suvs in owner reported satisfaction. This includes how well the vehicle performs and satisfies its owner’s expectations. The Discovery Sport isn’t in the top three.

The Honda Pilot outsold the Land Rover Discovery Sport by almost 16 to one during 2022.