Compare the2025 Land Rover Discovery SportVS 2025 GMC Acadia

Both the Discovery Sport and Acadia 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 Acadia’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.

The Land Rover Discovery Sport has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Acadia doesn’t offer knee airbags.

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

Both the Discovery Sport and the Acadia have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact 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, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, around view monitors 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 Acadia’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 Acadia runs out after 100,000 miles.

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

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 Acadia. A locking fuel door helps prevent fuel theft and vandalism, such as sugar in the tank.

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 Acadia.

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

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 Acadia AT4’s standard 65 series tires.

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 Acadia; 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 Acadia’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

For better maneuverability, the Discovery Sport’s turning circle is .1 feet tighter than the Acadia Elevation’s (38.7 feet vs. 38.8 feet). The Discovery Sport’s turning circle is 1.4 feet tighter than the Acadia Denali Reserve’s (38.7 feet vs. 40.1 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Discovery Sport has a 1.6 inches greater minimum ground clearance than the Acadia Elevation (8.4 vs. 6.8 inches), allowing the Discovery Sport to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged. The Discovery Sport’s minimum ground clearance is .6 inch higher than on the Acadia AT4 (8.4 vs. 7.8 inches).

The Land Rover Discovery Sport may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 450 to 500 pounds less than the GMC Acadia.

The Discovery Sport is 1 foot, 11 inches shorter than the Acadia, making the Discovery Sport easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

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 Acadia’s passenger windows don’t close automatically.

The Discovery Sport’s standard Keyless Entry allow you to unlock the doors from any outside door handle, open the cargo door, and start the engine, all without removing the key from the pocket or purse. Keyless Access standard on the Acadia doesn’t offer a sensor on the rear doors, so you’ll have to reach a front handle to unlock the rear door.

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 Acadia’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 Acadia 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 Acadia doesn’t offer secondary sun visors.

When the Discovery Sport with available tilt-down mirrors is put in reverse, both rearview mirrors tilt from their original position. This gives the driver a better view of the curb during parallel parking maneuvers. Shifting out of reverse puts the mirrors into their original positions. The Acadia’s mirrors don’t automatically adjust for backing.

The Land Rover Discovery Sport has power folding mirrors that offer unparalleled convenience while maneuvering in tight places or parked. With the mirrors folded it’s easier to walk past and help prevent parking damage. The mirrors can be quickly unfolded when the driver is ready to leave. Power folding mirrors are only offered on the Acadia Denali.

The Land Rover Discovery Sport has a standard Homelink wireless remote control system for garage door operation and device management, conveniently located on the rear view mirror. Homelink® eliminates the need for separate garage door openers and associated risks of losing, breaking, or having dead batteries. GMC charges extra for Homelink® on the Acadia.