Land Rover Discovery vs Land Rover Range Rover Sport

A class gap, in the unexpected direction. The Discovery runs from $132,376 driveaway (NSW) for the S to $162,645 for the Tempest as of August 2026, in a three-grade range refreshed in July 2026. The Range Rover Sport opens at $183,751 for the Dynamic SE and climbs through twelve variants to $378,001 for the SV Carbon. So the dearest Discovery undercuts the cheapest Sport by more than $21,000, and entry for entry the gap is $51,375. What the money buys is luxury and image, not capability or space: the Discovery matches or beats the Sport on seats, boot, power and towing fine print. The Sport takes the cabin, the screen and the current safety rating.

For a family needing the third row the answer is short: the Range Rover Sport seats five, with no seven-seat option in the range. The Discovery wins by existence. Its third row is the good kind, rated by AU reviews as taking adults and covered by the curtain airbags. The load numbers follow. The Discovery offers 1,137 litres with its third row folded against the Sport's 835 behind its second row (both on JLR's wet measure), and 2,391 litres to 1,860 with everything down. The Sport counters with the plusher rear cabin and the bigger screen. Carrying more than five people, the Discovery is the only one of the two on the shortlist.

Less hardware than the gap suggests. Both run a 3.0-litre diesel six through an 8-speed automatic with permanent four-wheel drive, both wade 900mm, and clearance and angles sit within a degree or two millimetres. What the $51,375 entry step (August 2026) actually buys: the cabin AU reviewers consistently call opulent, with the ride its most praised trait, full leather over part-leather, a 13.1-inch curved screen over 11.4, a current five-star ANCAP rating, and an options ladder running to a 467kW V8 at $378,001. The costs beyond money: two seats, 302 litres of boot, 36kW and 50Nm at entry, and nine litres of fuel tank. Buyers upgrading for the luxury get it; buyers expecting more machine do not.

On the rating, the Sport wins clearly. It carries a current five-star ANCAP result from 2022 testing across all twelve variants, scoring 85 per cent for adult occupant protection, 86 for child occupant, 84 for safety assist and 69 for vulnerable road users. The Discovery is officially unrated: its 2017 five-star score expired under ANCAP's six-year rule, and the current car carries no star at all. Unrated is not a crash-test verdict, and the Discovery's equipment has not gone backwards: eight airbags, autonomous emergency braking, lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and a 360-degree camera are standard. But if a current five-star badge is a hard requirement, only the Sport ticks it.

The inversion at the heart of this page. The Discovery S runs the 257kW, 700Nm D350 diesel as its only engine and reaches 100km/h in 6.3 seconds; the entry Range Rover Sport Dynamic SE runs the 221kW, 650Nm D300 and takes 6.4, despite costing $51,375 more (NSW driveaway, August 2026). Both are 3.0-litre inline sixes through 8-speed automatics with permanent four-wheel drive, and the Sport claws back a higher 218km/h top speed. The Sport's answer is its ladder: a D350 of its own in Dynamic HSE trim, then petrol V8s to a 467kW SV, outputs no Discovery approaches. Entry for entry the Discovery takes it; buyers chasing outright pace shop the Sport's upper range and pay accordingly.

The headline ties exactly: 3,500kg braked, 750kg unbraked and a 350kg tow ball mass on both. The fine print leans gently to the Discovery. Its entry diesel makes 700Nm against the Sport D300's 650, its gross combination mass runs 6,745kg to 6,720, and its 89-litre tank against 80 buys real margin between fuel stops with a van on the back. Its air suspension self-levels under load, as does the Sport's. Neither publishes a payload figure in the data behind this page, so tourers running near limits should weigh the actual car before committing. For heavy, regular towing the Discovery edges it on torque, tank and combination mass; the Sport gives up nothing a weekender would notice.

The published numbers all but match. Wading is 900mm on both. The Discovery raises to 285mm of clearance, the Sport to 283. Approach runs 33.6 degrees to 33, departure 30 to 29.8, breakover 27.5 to 26.7: within rounding on every line. Both carry hill descent control and drive-mode selection, and both entry grades run a single-speed transfer box, with low range optional rather than standard at the bottom of each ladder, so neither base car arrives with the hardware the badges imply. Check the transfer box on any build sheet before signing if genuine off-road use is the plan. On geometry it is a tie; spend the difference on the Discovery and its accessories catalogue.

Both carry the same ownership frame: five years of warranty with unlimited kilometres and five years of roadside assistance, mainstream terms on premium metal. From there the Discovery is the cheaper car to run. It costs $51,375 less at entry (August 2026), and its published five-year servicing runs $3,500; the Sport's servicing total is not published in our data, so get it in writing before you talk price. Fuel favours the Sport slightly, 7.3L/100km claimed against 7.8, though the Discovery's 89-litre tank goes further between fills. The recurring AU press criticism of both applies: options inflate an as-tested price quickly, so the sticker is only the start. The Discovery wins ownership on the big number, the entry price.

It is a known quantity near the end of its run. The current generation dates to 2017, AU coverage has long called the platform ageing, and a July 2026 refresh trimmed the range to three diesel-only grades: S, a new mid-range Landmark and the flagship Tempest, at $132,376 and $162,645 driveaway for the bookends as of August 2026. A successor is committed but undated. The flip side: a fully developed car running the strong D350 driveline it gained late in life. The Range Rover Sport is the newer platform, on sale since late 2022, and holds the current safety rating. Read the Discovery as the sharp end-of-cycle buy; read the Sport as the longer-lived one.