For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Subaru Forester have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Jeep Renegade doesn’t offer pretensioners for the rear 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 Forester are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Renegade doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Forester. But it costs extra on the Renegade.
The Forester Touring’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Renegade doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Forester and the Renegade have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available 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 Subaru Forester is safer than the Jeep Renegade:
|
Forester |
Renegade |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
186 |
207 |
Neck Injury Risk |
23% |
26% |
Neck Stress |
326 lbs. |
332 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
248/368 lbs. |
343/366 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
293 |
363 |
Chest Compression |
.7 inches |
.7 inches |
Neck Injury Risk |
31% |
35% |
Neck Stress |
213 lbs. |
221 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
105/93 lbs. |
290/322 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Subaru Forester is safer than the Jeep Renegade:
|
Forester |
Renegade |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
66 |
161 |
Chest Movement |
.6 inches |
1 inches |
Abdominal Force |
122 G’s |
161 G’s |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
3 Stars |
HIC |
246 |
286 |
Spine Acceleration |
56 G’s |
73 G’s |
Hip Force |
670 lbs. |
1157 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
121 |
314 |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its standard headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Forester its highest rating: “Top Pick Plus” for 2021, a rating granted to only 73 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Renegade last would have qualified as only a standard “Top Pick” for 2019.