Compare the2024 Land Rover Discovery SportVS 2023 Toyota Highlander Hybrid

Both the Discovery Sport and Highlander Hybrid 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 Highlander Hybrid’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 Highlander Hybrid.

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

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Discovery Sport has standard Rear Traffic Monitor with Rear Traffic Braking, systems which detect vehicles approaching from the sides and can automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. Only the Highlander Hybrid Limited/Platinum offers Parking Support Brake.

Both the Discovery Sport and the Highlander Hybrid 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, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and driver alert monitors.

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 Highlander Hybrid’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 Highlander Hybrid’s (6 vs. 5 years).

The Discovery Sport’s standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 3 more horsepower (246 vs. 243) than the Highlander Hybrid’s 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid.

Both the Discovery Sport and Highlander Hybrid have a standard automatic start/stop engine feature to stop unnecessary fuel waste and pollution at stoplights and heavy traffic. The Discovery Sport has a standard disable switch for the system, so a driver can keep the engine from shutting off when the vehicle stops temporarily.

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

For better traction, the Discovery Sport’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Highlander Hybrid (245/45R21 vs. 235/65R18).

The Discovery Sport’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 60 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Highlander Hybrid LE/XLE/Bronze’s standard 65 series tires. The Discovery Sport’s optional tires have a lower 45 series profile than the Highlander Hybrid Limited/Platinum’s 55 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Discovery Sport offers optional 21-inch wheels. The Highlander Hybrid’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 Highlander Hybrid; it requires you to depend on a temporary spare, which limits mileage and speed before replacement.

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 Highlander Hybrid’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

The Discovery Sport has vehicle speed sensitive variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Highlander Hybrid doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

The Discovery Sport S handles at .82 G’s, while the Highlander Hybrid Platinum AWD pulls only .78 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Discovery Sport S executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1 seconds quicker than the Highlander Hybrid Platinum AWD (27.4 seconds @ .64 average G’s vs. 28.4 seconds @ .58 average G’s).

For greater off-road capability the Discovery Sport has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Highlander Hybrid (8.3 vs. 8 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 250 to 300 pounds less than the Toyota Highlander Hybrid.

The Discovery Sport is 1 foot, 1.9 inches shorter than the Highlander Hybrid, making the Discovery Sport easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

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 Highlander Hybrid doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The Discovery Sport’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Highlander Hybrid’s (4409 vs. 3500 pounds).

The Discovery Sport has a higher maximum payload capacity than the Highlander Hybrid (1670 vs. 1535 lbs.).

The Discovery Sport uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Highlander Hybrid 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.

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 Highlander Hybrid’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 Highlander Hybrid 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 Highlander Hybrid 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 Highlander Hybrid offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

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 is only available on the Highlander Hybrid Limited/Platinum.

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. Only the Highlander Hybrid XLE/Bronze/Limited/Platinum offers wireless charging.