Compare the2024 Land Rover Discovery SportVS 2024 Buick Encore GX

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics

Safety

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Both the Discovery Sport and Encore GX 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 Encore GX’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.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Discovery Sport. But it costs extra on the Encore GX.

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 Encore GX’s blind spot costs extra.

Both the Discovery Sport and Encore GX have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Discovery Sport has Rear Traffic Braking (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Encore GX’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert doesn’t automatically brake.

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 Encore GX doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Discovery Sport and the Encore GX have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and rear cross-path warning.

The Land Rover Discovery Sport weighs 850 to 1257 pounds more than the Buick Encore GX. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.

Warranty

The Discovery Sport comes with a full 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Encore GX’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 14,000 miles sooner.

The Discovery Sport’s 6 year corrosion warranty has no mileage limitations, but the corrosion warranty on the Encore GX runs out after 100,000 miles.

Reliability

A hardened steel chain, with no maintenance needs, drives the camshafts in the Discovery Sport’s engine. A rubber cam drive belt that needs periodic replacement drives the Encore GX’s camshafts. If the Encore GX’s belt breaks, the engine could be severely damaged when the pistons hit the opened valves.

Engine

The Discovery Sport’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 109 more horsepower (246 vs. 137) and 107 lbs.-ft. more torque (269 vs. 162) than the Encore GX’s standard 1.2 turbo 3-cylinder. The Discovery Sport’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 91 more horsepower (246 vs. 155) and 95 lbs.-ft. more torque (269 vs. 174) than the Encore GX’s optional 1.3 turbo 3-cylinder.

Fuel Economy and Range

The Discovery Sport has 4.5 gallons more fuel capacity than the Encore GX (17.7 vs. 13.2 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

The Discovery Sport has a standard locking fuel door which locks and unlocks with the power locks. The fuel filler door is not lockable on the Encore GX. A locking fuel door helps prevent fuel theft and vandalism, such as sugar in the tank.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the Discovery Sport’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Encore GX:

	Discovery Sport	Encore GX
Front Rotors	13.7 inches	11.81 inches
Rear Rotors	11.8 inches	10.39 inches

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Discovery Sport has larger standard tires than the Encore GX (235/60R18 vs. 225/55R18).

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Discovery Sport offers optional 21-inch wheels. The Encore GX’s largest wheels are only 19-inches.

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

Suspension and Handling

For superior ride and handling, the Land Rover Discovery Sport has fully independent front and rear suspensions. An independent suspension allows the wheels to follow the road at the best angle for gripping the pavement, without compromising ride comfort. The Buick Encore GX has a rear torsion beam axle, with a semi-independent rear suspension.

The Discovery Sport has standard front and rear stabilizer bars, which help keep the Discovery Sport flat and controlled during cornering. The Encore GX’s suspension doesn’t offer a rear stabilizer bar.

The Discovery Sport offers an optional driver-adjustable suspension system. It allows the driver to choose between an extra-supple ride, reducing fatigue on long trips, or a sport setting, which allows maximum control for tricky roads or off-road. The Encore GX’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Discovery Sport’s wheelbase is 5.7 inches longer than on the Encore GX (107.9 inches vs. 102.2 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Discovery Sport is 3.1 inches wider in the front and 2.6 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Encore GX.

The Discovery Sport S handles at .82 G’s, while the Encore GX AWD pulls only .81 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Discovery Sport S executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Encore GX AWD (27.4 seconds @ .64 average G’s vs. 27.8 seconds @ .6 average G’s).

For greater off-road capability the Discovery Sport has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Encore GX (8.3 vs. 7.5 inches), allowing the Discovery Sport to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

Passenger Space

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

The Discovery Sport has 1.9 inches more front shoulder room, .6 inches more rear headroom, 2.1 inches more rear legroom and 2.3 inches more rear shoulder room than the Encore GX.

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

Cargo Capacity

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

	Discovery Sport	Encore GX
Third Seat Removed	26.6 cubic feet	23.5 cubic feet
Second Seat Folded	60 cubic feet	50.2 cubic feet

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

	Discovery Sport	Encore GX
Length to seat (3rd/2nd/1st)	8.9”/38.5”/69.7”	n.a./31.8”/60.8”
Max Width	52.1”	53”
Min Width	43.6”	40.7”
Height	31.4”	32”

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 Encore GX doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

Towing

The Discovery Sport’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Encore GX’s (4409 vs. 1000 pounds).

Standard Trailer Stability Assist (TSA) on the Discovery Sport uses the Dynamic Stability Control sensors to detect trailer sway, then uses individual brakes to counteract any swaying and help keep the tow vehicle and trailer steady. The Encore GX doesn’t offer electronic trailer sway control.

Servicing Ease

The Discovery Sport uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Encore GX uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

Ergonomics

The Discovery Sport’s front and rear power windows all open or close with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside of the car. The Encore GX’s passenger windows don’t close automatically.

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 Encore GX can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The Discovery Sport’s rain-sensitive wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically based on the amount of rainfall on the windshield. This allows the driver to concentrate on driving without constantly adjusting the wipers. The Encore GX’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

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 Encore GX 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 Encore GX doesn’t offer secondary sun visors.

The Discovery Sport’s standard rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Encore GX offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

The Discovery Sport has standard heated front seats. Heated front seats cost extra on the Encore GX. The Discovery Sport also offers optional heated second row seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the Encore GX.

The Discovery Sport has a standard heated steering wheel to take the chill out of steering on extremely cold winter days before the vehicle heater warms up. A heated steering wheel costs extra on the Encore GX.

The Discovery Sport has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning is only available on the Encore GX Avenir.

Both the Discovery Sport and the Encore GX offer rear vents. For greater rear passenger comfort, the Discovery Sport has available rear air conditioning vents to keep rear occupants cool in summer or warm in winter. The Encore GX doesn’t offer rear air conditioning vents, only heat vents.

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 Encore GX.

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