Compare the2026 Land Rover Discovery SportVS 2026 Subaru Outback

Safety
Warranty
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Towing
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics

Safety

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Both the Discovery Sport and Outback 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 Outback’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.

Both the Discovery Sport and Outback have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Discovery Sport has Rear Traffic Braking (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Outback’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert doesn’t automatically brake.

Both the Discovery Sport and the Outback 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, all wheel drive, 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.

Warranty

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 Outback’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 Outback’s (6 vs. 5 years).

Engine

The Discovery Sport’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 69 more horsepower (249 vs. 180) and 91 lbs.-ft. more torque (269 vs. 178) than the Outback 2.5i’s standard 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder.

Fuel Economy and Range

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

Environmental Friendliness

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Land Rover Discovery Sport higher (6 out of 10) than the Subaru Outback (5 to 6). This means the Discovery Sport produces up to 6.9 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Outback every 15,000 miles.

Brakes and Stopping

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

	Discovery Sport	Outback
Front Rotors	13.7 inches	12.4 inches
Rear Rotors	12.8 inches	11.8 inches

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Discovery Sport has larger standard tires than the Outback (235/60R18 vs. 225/65R17). The Discovery Sport’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Outback (245/45R21 vs. 225/65R17).

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 Outback Wilderness’ standard 65 series tires. The Discovery Sport’s optional tires have a lower 45 series profile than the Outback XT’s 55 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Discovery Sport has standard 18-inch wheels. Smaller 17-inch wheels are standard on the Outback Wilderness. The Discovery Sport’s optional 21-inch wheels are larger than the 19-inch wheels on the Outback XT.

Suspension and Handling

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 Outback doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Discovery Sport is 1.8 inches wider in the front and 1 inch wider in the rear than the average track on the Outback.

Chassis

The Discovery Sport is 10.7 inches shorter than the Outback, making the Discovery Sport easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

Passenger Space

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

Towing

The Discovery Sport’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Outback’s (4409 vs. 2700 pounds).

Servicing Ease

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

Ergonomics

The Discovery Sport offers an optional heads-up display that projects speed and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Outback doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The power windows standard on both the Discovery Sport and the Outback have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Discovery Sport is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Outback prevents the driver from operating the rear windows just as it does the other passengers.

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

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 and Start standard on the Outback 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 Outback’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 Outback 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 Outback doesn’t offer secondary sun visors.

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 costs extra on the Outback and aren't offered on the Premium/Limited.

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 Outback.

The Discovery Sport has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning is only available on the Outback Premium/Limited/Wilderness/Touring/Onyx.

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. Subaru charges extra for Homelink® on the Outback.

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 Outback.

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