Compare the2024 Honda PilotVS 2024 Land Rover Discovery

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 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 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 doesn’t offer knee airbags.

Using vehicle speed sensors and seat sensors, smart airbags in the Pilot deploy with different levels of force or don’t deploy at all to help better protect passengers of all sizes in different collisions. The Pilot’s side airbags will shut off if a child is leaning against the door. The Discovery’s side airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Pilot EX-L/TrailSport/Touring/Elite/Black Edition 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 doesn’t offer automatic braking for stationary objects directly to the rear.

Both the Pilot and the Discovery have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, 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, around view monitors and rear cross-path warning.

The Honda Pilot achieved a “Top Safety Pick” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for the 2024 model year. This recognition was based on its impressive performance in the small overlap frontal crash test, updated side impact crash test, headlight evaluations, and pedestrian crash prevention testing. The Discovery has not yet been evaluated by the IIHS for 2024.

Honda’s powertrain warranty covers the Pilot 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than Land Rover covers the Discovery. 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 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.

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.

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.

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

An engine control system that can shut down some of the engine’s cylinders helps improve the Pilot’s fuel efficiency. The Discovery 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 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 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 an eight-speed automatic is available for the Discovery.

The Pilot stops shorter than the Discovery:

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 doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

The Pilot TrailSport has a standard full size spare so a flat doesn’t interrupt your trip. A full size spare costs extra on the Discovery. Without the option you must depend on a temporary spare, which limits mileage and speed before replacement.

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Pilot is .8 inches wider in the front and 1.2 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Discovery.

The Pilot TrailSport handles at .85 G’s, while the Discovery Dynamic SE pulls only .79 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Pilot Elite executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Discovery Dynamic SE (27.7 seconds @ .61 average G’s vs. 28.1 seconds @ .6 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Pilot TrailSport’s turning circle is 3 feet tighter than the Discovery’s (37.7 feet vs. 40.7 feet). The Pilot’s turning circle is 2.9 feet tighter than the Discovery’s (37.8 feet vs. 40.7 feet).

The Honda Pilot may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 450 to 850 pounds less than the Land Rover Discovery.

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 doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

The Pilot offers optional seating for 8 passengers; the Discovery can only carry 7.

The Pilot has 1.1 inches more front headroom, 1.9 inches more front legroom, .6 inches more front hip room, 1.5 inches more front shoulder room, 1.2 inches more rear headroom, 3.4 inches more rear legroom, 1.7 inches more rear hip room, 2.2 inches more rear shoulder room, 1.4 inches more third row headroom, 2.6 inches more third row hip room and 12.4 inches more third row shoulder room than the Discovery.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the Pilot’s middle and third row seats recline. The Discovery’s third row seats don’t recline.

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

The Pilot’s cargo area is larger than the Discovery’s in almost every dimension:

On a hot day the Pilot’s driver can lower all the windows from a distance using the keyless remote. The driver of the Discovery can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

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 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 doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

The Pilot TrailSport/Elite/Black Edition 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 doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

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

Insurance will cost less for the Pilot owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Pilot will cost $2850 to $8270 less than the Discovery over a five-year period.

The Pilot will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The IntelliChoice estimates that the Pilot will retain 55.18% to 56.17% of its original price after five years, while the Discovery only retains 47.9% to 49.04%.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the Honda Pilot will be $26234 to $36906 less than for the Land Rover Discovery.

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 isn’t in the top three.

The Honda Pilot outsold the Land Rover Discovery by almost 46 to one during 2023.