Compare the2024 Land Rover Discovery SportVS 2023 Dodge Durango

Both the Discovery Sport and Durango 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 Durango’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 Durango.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Discovery Sport’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The Durango doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.

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 Durango and is not available with SXT.

The Discovery Sport has a standard 3D Surround Camera to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Durango 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 Discovery Sport and Durango 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 Durango’s Rear Cross Path Detection 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 Durango doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Discovery Sport and the Durango 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, daytime running lights, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras and rear cross-path warning.

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 Durango’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 14,000 miles sooner.

The Discovery Sport’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the Durango’s (6 vs. 5 years).

For smoother operation, better efficiency and fewer moving parts, the Discovery Sport has an overhead cam design, rather than the old pushrod design of the 5.7 V8 in the Durango.

The Discovery Sport’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 9 lbs.-ft. more torque (269 vs. 260) than the Durango’s standard 3.6 DOHC V6. The Discovery Sport’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 9 lbs.-ft. more torque (269 vs. 260) than the Durango’s optional 3.6 DOHC V6.

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

Regenerative brakes improve the Discovery Sport’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Durango doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

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 Dodge Durango (5 to 7). This means the Discovery Sport produces up to 8 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Durango 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 Durango.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Discovery Sport offers optional 21-inch wheels. The Durango’s largest wheels are only 20-inches.

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

The Discovery Sport S handles at .82 G’s, while the Durango GT 4x4 pulls only .74 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Discovery Sport S executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.4 seconds quicker than the Durango GT 4x4 (27.4 seconds @ .64 average G’s vs. 28.8 seconds @ .58 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Discovery Sport’s turning circle is 2.3 feet tighter than the Durango’s (38.7 feet vs. 41 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Discovery Sport has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Durango (8.3 vs. 8.1 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 650 to 1100 pounds less than the Dodge Durango.

The Discovery Sport is 1 foot, 7.8 inches shorter than the Durango, 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 Durango (.36). A more efficient exterior helps keep the interior quieter and helps the Discovery Sport get better fuel mileage.

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 Durango doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The Discovery Sport has a higher standard payload capacity than the Durango (1515 vs. 1400 lbs.).

The Discovery Sport has a much higher maximum payload capacity than the Durango (1670 vs. 1450 lbs.).

The Discovery Sport 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 Durango doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Discovery Sport’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Durango’s parking brake has to be released manually.

The Discovery Sport’s front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Durango’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

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 Durango’s standard intermittent wipers change speed with vehicle speed, but can’t turn on and off or change speed based on changing rainfall.

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 Durango 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 Durango doesn’t offer secondary sun visors.

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 Durango.

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. The Durango doesn’t offer wireless personal charging.