For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Ford Bronco Sport 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 Toyota 4Runner doesn’t offer pretensioners for the rear seat belts.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tests front crash prevention systems. With a score of 6 points, IIHS rates the Automatic Emergency Braking in the Bronco Sport as “Superior.” The 4Runner scores zero, and is rated by the IIHS as having no effective frontal crash prevention.
The Bronco Sport has standard Post Collision Braking, which automatically apply the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The 4Runner doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Bronco Sport. But it costs extra on the 4Runner.
The Bronco Sport has a standard blind spot warning system which uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the 4Runner’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Bronco Sport has a standard rear cross-path warning system, which uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. Rear cross-path warning costs extra on the 4Runner and isn't available on the not available.
For better protection of the passenger compartment, the Bronco Sport uses safety cell construction with a three-dimensional high-strength frame that surrounds the passenger compartment. It provides extra impact protection and a sturdy mounting location for door hardware and side impact beams. The 4Runner uses a body-on-frame design, which has no frame members above the floor of the vehicle.
Both the Bronco Sport and the 4Runner 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, driver alert monitors and available rear parking sensors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Ford Bronco Sport is safer than the Toyota 4Runner:
|
Bronco Sport |
4Runner |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
140 |
267 |
Neck Injury Risk |
26% |
47% |
Neck Stress |
178 lbs. |
438 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
29 lbs. |
54 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
123/237 lbs. |
488/468 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
3 Stars |
HIC |
153 |
367 |
Chest Compression |
.6 inches |
.7 inches |
Neck Injury Risk |
37% |
57% |
Neck Stress |
177 lbs. |
271 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
54 lbs. |
58 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
385/291 lbs. |
453/353 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the Ford Bronco Sport is safer than the 4Runner:
|
Bronco Sport |
4Runner |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
Restraints |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Neck Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head injury index |
79 |
142 |
Peak Head Forces |
0 G’s |
0 G’s |
Steering Column Movement Rearward |
1 cm |
12 cm |
Chest Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Hip & Thigh Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Femur Force R/L |
.7/0 kN |
3.9/2.4 kN |
Hip & Thigh Injury Risk R/L |
0%/0% |
1%/0% |
Lower Leg Evaluation |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Tibia index R/L |
.52/.44 |
.95/.85 |
Tibia forces R/L |
2.3/.1 kN |
5/2.9 kN |
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 Ford Bronco Sport is safer than the Toyota 4Runner:
|
Bronco Sport |
4Runner |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Chest Movement |
.9 inches |
1.1 inches |
Hip Force |
205 lbs. |
233 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Spine Acceleration |
33 G’s |
36 G’s |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
13 inches |
20 inches |
HIC |
255 |
507 |
Spine Acceleration |
35 G’s |
43 G’s |
Hip Force |
512 lbs. |
895 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
Instrumented handling tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analysis of its dimensions indicate that the Bronco Sport, with its four-star roll-over rating, is 7.2% less likely to roll over than the 4Runner, which received a three-star rating.
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 Bronco Sport its highest rating: “Top Pick Plus” for 2021, a rating granted to only 76 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The 4Runner is not even a standard “Top Pick.”