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 Volvo XC40 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 XC40 doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.
Both the Encore and the XC40 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee 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 Volvo XC40:
|
Encore |
XC40 |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
122 |
200 |
Neck Injury Risk |
26% |
30% |
Neck Compression |
12 lbs. |
25 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
363/313 lbs. |
361/380 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
207 |
343 |
Chest Compression |
.3 inches |
.5 inches |
Neck Stress |
122 lbs. |
156 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
249/289 lbs. |
397/411 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, results indicate that the Buick Encore is safer than the Volvo XC40:
|
Encore |
XC40 |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
73 |
78 |
Chest Movement |
.7 inches |
.9 inches |
Abdominal Force |
120 G’s |
156 G’s |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
100 |
119 |
Spine Acceleration |
33 G’s |
48 G’s |
Hip Force |
672 lbs. |
755 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.