Land Rover Discovery vs Volvo XC90: seven-seat SUVs

The Volvo XC90 and the Land Rover Discovery are two of the most popular large seven-seat SUVs in Europe, and both have been on sale for a decade in their current form. Volvo unveiled the second-generation XC90 in Stockholm on 26 August 2014 as the first car on its Scalable Product Architecture (SPA). It is built in Torslanda, Sweden, and was facelifted in February 2019 and again in September 2024. The fifth-generation Discovery was unveiled on 28 September 2016 and went on sale in the UK in February 2017; production moved from the UK to Nitra, Slovakia, in 2019.

In short: the Discovery is the genuine off-roader with six-cylinder engines and 900 mm of wading depth. The XC90 is the road-focused family car, with a plug-in hybrid and a 100% safety assist score in its Euro NCAP test. Both are in our catalogue: Land Rover Discovery and Volvo XC90.

Land Rover Discovery vs Volvo XC90: engines, seats and safety

Construction

The fifth Discovery is the first to use a unibody instead of a separate chassis. It shares an aluminium-intensive platform with the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, which saved up to 480 kg over its predecessor; the diesel weighs 2,230 kg. Every version has an eight-speed automatic. The XC90 rides on Volvo's own SPA platform, shared with the XC60, S90 and V90, and weighs 2,050–2,130 kg in most petrol and diesel versions and 2,319–2,394 kg as the T8.

Engines: four cylinders against six

Volvo uses only 2.0-litre four-cylinder engines with an eight-speed Aisin automatic. The B5 mild hybrid has 175 kW and 480 Nm, the B6 mild hybrid 221 kW (300 PS) and 420 Nm, and the T8 plug-in hybrid 335 kW (455 PS) and 709 Nm. In March 2024 the XC90 became the last Volvo built with a diesel engine. Land Rover replaced its 2.0-litre diesels with a 3.0-litre straight-six diesel in the 2021 update. Our catalogue lists the D250 at 183 kW, the D300 at 221 kW and 649 Nm and the D350 at 257 kW; the petrol P360 has 265 kW and 500 Nm.

• Discovery D300 MHEV: 221 kW, 649 Nm
• Discovery D350 MHEV: 257 kW
• Discovery P360 MHEV: 265 kW, 500 Nm
• XC90 B6: 221 kW, 420 Nm
• XC90 T8 Recharge: 335 kW, 709 Nm

Plug-in hybrid only at Volvo

The XC90 T8 launched with a 9.2 kWh battery, enlarged to 18.8 kWh in 2021. At launch its electric range was 43 km on the NEDC cycle. Land Rover offers no plug-in Discovery.

Off-road ability

The Discovery can wade through water up to 900 mm deep. Our sources give no wading figure for the XC90, which shares its platform with Volvo's saloons and estates.

Seats, size and boot

The XC90 has seven seats as standard, with optional six-seat captain's chairs since 2020. It is 4,950 mm long, 1,923 mm wide and 1,775 mm tall on a 2,984 mm wheelbase, with 451 litres of luggage space behind the second row according to Wikipedia; our catalogue lists 613 litres. The Discovery is offered with five or seven seats and as a commercial van.

Euro NCAP

Both have five stars. The XC90 scored 97% for adult occupants, 87% for children, 72% for vulnerable road users and 100% for safety assist in 2015. The Discovery scored 90%, 80%, 75% and 73% in 2017.