Compare the2024 Land Rover Discovery SportVS 2023 Mercedes GLA

Both the Discovery Sport and GLA 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 GLA’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 GLA.

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 GLA.

Both the Discovery Sport and the GLA 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, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and driver alert monitors.

The Land Rover Discovery Sport weighs 611 to 896 pounds more than the Mercedes GLA. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.

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

The Discovery Sport’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 25 more horsepower (246 vs. 221) and 11 lbs.-ft. more torque (269 vs. 258) than the GLA’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

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

The Discovery Sport has 4.2 gallons more fuel capacity than the GLA (17.7 vs. 13.5 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

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

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

For better traction, the Discovery Sport’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the GLA (245/45R21 vs. 235/55R18).

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Discovery Sport offers optional 21-inch wheels. The GLA’s largest wheels are only 20-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 GLA; it requires you to depend on its run-flat tires, which limits mileage and speed before they are repaired. If a run-flat is damaged beyond repair by a road hazard your vehicle will have to be towed. Some tire options on the GLA don’t have a run-flat feature, either.

The Discovery Sport has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The GLA’s suspension doesn’t offer gas-charged shocks.

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Discovery Sport is 1 inch wider in the front and 1.3 inches wider in the rear than the track on the GLA.

The Discovery Sport S handles at .82 G’s, while the GLA 250 4MATIC pulls only .80 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 GLA 250 4MATIC (27.4 seconds @ .64 average G’s vs. 27.8 seconds @ .61 average G’s).

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

The Discovery Sport has .5 inches more front headroom, 1.4 inches more front shoulder room, .6 inches more rear headroom, .1 inches more rear legroom and 1.1 inches more rear shoulder room than the GLA.

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

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 GLA doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The Discovery Sport has a 4409 lbs. towing capacity. The GLA has no towing capacity.

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 GLA doesn’t offer electronic trailer sway control.

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 GLA 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 GLA 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 GLA doesn’t offer secondary sun visors.

The Discovery Sport has standard heated front seats. Heated front seats cost extra on the GLA. 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 GLA.

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 GLA.

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 GLA.