For enhanced safety, the Chevrolet Equinox’s 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 Kia Soul doesn’t offer comfort guides on its rear seat belts.
The Equinox offers all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Soul doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.
The Equinox’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the Soul and is only available on Soul X-Line/S/EX/GT-Line/Turbo.
The Equinox LT/RS/Premier offers an optional Surround Vision to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Soul only offers a rear monitor.
Compared to metal, the Equinox’s plastic fuel tank can withstand harder, more intrusive impacts without leaking; this decreases the possibility of fire. The Kia Soul has a metal gas tank.
Both the Equinox and the Soul have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems 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 Chevrolet Equinox is safer than the Kia Soul:
|
Equinox |
Soul |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
159 |
253 |
Neck Injury Risk |
17% |
26% |
Neck Compression |
10 lbs. |
38 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
Chest Compression |
.6 inches |
2 inches |
Neck Injury Risk |
26% |
39% |
Neck Stress |
153 lbs. |
160 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
51 lbs. |
86 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 Chevrolet Equinox is safer than the Kia Soul:
|
Equinox |
Soul |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
109 |
142 |
Abdominal Force |
195 G’s |
259 G’s |
Hip Force |
357 lbs. |
490 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
288 |
422 |
Spine Acceleration |
55 G’s |
73 G’s |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
3 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
13 inches |
13 inches |
Spine Acceleration |
40 G’s |
46 G’s |
Hip Force |
730 lbs. |
1090 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.