For enhanced safety, the front and middle seat shoulder belts of the Subaru Ascent 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 Ford Explorer doesn’t offer pretensioners for the middle 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 Ascent are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Explorer doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Ascent has standard Whiplash-Reducing Front Seats, which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Whiplash-Reducing Front Seats system allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Explorer doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Ascent. But it costs extra on the Explorer.
Both the Ascent and the Explorer 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, crash mitigating brakes, 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 Ascent is safer than the Ford Explorer:
|
Ascent |
Explorer |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Neck Injury Risk |
21% |
26.3% |
Neck Compression |
8 lbs. |
26 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
210 |
318 |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
35/30 lbs. |
380/405 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 Ascent is safer than the Ford Explorer:
|
Ascent |
Explorer |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
37 |
65 |
Chest Movement |
.5 inches |
.9 inches |
Abdominal Force |
73 G’s |
161 G’s |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
81 |
86 |
Spine Acceleration |
27 G’s |
38 G’s |
Hip Force |
346 lbs. |
604 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
149 |
288 |
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 front crash prevention system, and its headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Ascent its highest rating: “Top Pick Plus” for 2019, a rating granted to only 113 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Explorer is only a standard “Top Pick” for 2019.