For enhanced safety, the front shoulder belts of the Buick Encore are height-adjustable, and the rear seat shoulder belts have child comfort guides to move the belt to properly fit children. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages children to buckle up. The Nissan Rogue Sport has only front height-adjustable seat belts.
The Buick Encore has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Rogue Sport doesn’t offer knee airbags.
Both the Encore and the Rogue Sport have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive, collision warning systems, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rear parking sensors and rear cross-path warning.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Buick Encore is safer than the Nissan Rogue Sport:
|
Encore |
Rogue Sport |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
122 |
326 |
Neck Compression |
12 lbs. |
71 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
2 Stars |
HIC |
207 |
398 |
Chest Compression |
.3 inches |
1 inches |
Neck Injury Risk |
38% |
65% |
Neck Stress |
122 lbs. |
260 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
249/289 lbs. |
328/396 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
For its top level performance in all IIHS frontal, side, rear impact and roof-crush tests, and with its optional front crash prevention system, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Encore the rating of “Top Pick” for 2016, a rating granted to only 221 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Rogue Sport has not been fully tested, yet.