Compare the2025 GMC AcadiaVS 2025 Land Rover Discovery Sport

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the GMC Acadia 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 Sport 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 Acadia are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Acadia has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

In a Vehicle-to-Vehicle Frontal Crash Prevention 2.0 test conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the GMC Acadia achieved a “Good” rating - the highest possible - for its performance in forward collision warning and automatic braking systems, demonstrating its excellent capabilities in preventing collisions. The Land Rover Discovery Sport has not been tested.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Acadia has standard Reverse Automatic Braking that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer automatic braking for stationary objects directly to the rear.

The GMC Acadia’s rear backup camera has a standard washer for maintaining a clear view under various conditions. In contrast, the Land Rover Discovery Sport does not offer a rear camera washer, meaning its effectiveness relies on manual cleaning by the user when necessary.

Both the Acadia and the Discovery Sport 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, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive, front parking sensors and driver alert monitors.

The GMC Acadia achieved a “Top Safety Pick” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for the 2025 model year. This recognition was based on its impressive performance in the small overlap frontal crash test, updated moderate overlap front crash test, updated side impact crash test, headlight evaluations, and pedestrian crash prevention testing. The Discovery Sport has not yet been evaluated by the IIHS for 2025.

GMC’s powertrain warranty covers the Acadia 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than Land Rover covers the Discovery Sport. 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 Sport ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

There are over 8 times as many GMC dealers as there are Land Rover dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Acadia’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 Acadia’s reliability 18 points higher than the Discovery Sport.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that GMC vehicles are better in initial quality than Land Rover vehicles. With 13 fewer problems per 100 vehicles, JD Power ranks GMC higher than Land Rover.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that GMC vehicles are more reliable than Land Rover With 62 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks GMC higher than Land Rover.

The Acadia’s 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 82 more horsepower (328 vs. 246) and 57 lbs.-ft. more torque (326 vs. 269) than the Discovery Sport’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

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

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the GMC Acadia uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Discovery Sport requires premium, which can cost on average about 84.9 cents more per gallon.

The Acadia FWD’s standard fuel tank has 1.7 gallons more fuel capacity than the Discovery Sport (19.4 vs. 17.7 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups. The Acadia AWD’s standard fuel tank has 4 gallons more fuel capacity than the Discovery Sport (21.7 vs. 17.7 gallons).

The Acadia 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 Sport doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

For better traction, the Acadia has larger standard tires than the Discovery Sport (255/55R20 vs. 235/60R18). The Acadia Denali’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Discovery Sport (275/45R22 vs. 245/45R21).

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Acadia Denali offers optional 22-inch wheels. The Discovery Sport’s largest wheels are only 21-inches.

The GMC Acadia’s wheels have 6 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Land Rover Discovery Sport only has 5 wheel lugs per wheel.

The Acadia 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 Sport doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Acadia’s wheelbase is 13 inches longer than on the Discovery Sport (120.9 inches vs. 107.9 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Acadia is 3.6 inches wider in the front and 3.2 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Discovery Sport.

The front grille of the Acadia uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Acadia uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

The Acadia offers optional seating for 8 passengers; the Discovery Sport can only carry up to 7.

The Acadia has 3.1 inches more front headroom, 5.2 inches more front legroom, 4.7 inches more front shoulder room, 1.3 inches more rear headroom, 3.4 inches more rear legroom, 6.1 inches more rear shoulder room, 3.8 inches more third row headroom, 6.5 inches more third row legroom and 10.8 inches more third row shoulder room than the Discovery Sport.

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

Both the Acadia and the Discovery Sport offer second row automatic folding seats. The Acadia Denali’s third row seats also fold up or down at the press of a switch. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer automatic folding third row seats.

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the Acadia’s liftgate can be opened just by waiting momentarily behind the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its liftgate, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

The Acadia’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Discovery Sport’s (5000 vs. 4409 pounds).

The Acadia Denali’s standard easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

The Acadia’s instruments include an oil pressure gauge and a temperature gauge - which could save your engine! Often ‘idiot lights’ don’t warn you until damage has been done. The Discovery Sport does not have an oil pressure gauge.

If the windows are left open on the Acadia the driver can close them all from a distance using the remote. On a hot day the driver can also lower the windows the same way. The driver of the Discovery Sport can only close 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 Acadia has standard extendable sun visors. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer extendable visors.

Optional air-conditioned seats in the Acadia (except Elevation) keep the driver and front passenger comfortable and take the sting out of hot seats in Summer. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats.

The Acadia 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 Sport doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

The Acadia’s optional Enhanced Automatic Parking Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, stopping and changing direction automatically. The Discovery Sport doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

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

Consumer Reports® recommends the GMC Acadia, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The GMC Acadia outsold the Land Rover Discovery Sport by almost 18 to one during 2024.