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 Sportage are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Outlander Sport doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Sportage Prestige has standard Parking Collision Avoidance-Reverse that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The Outlander Sport doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Sportage’s standard Downhill Brake Control allows you to creep down safely. The Outlander Sport doesn’t offer Downhill Brake Control.
The Sportage Prestige has a standard Surround View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Outlander Sport only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.
The Sportage’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 Outlander Sport doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
The Sportage EX/SX/Prestige/X-Line/X-Pro has standard 911 Connect, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to remotely unlock your doors if you lock your keys in, help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Outlander Sport doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.
Both the Sportage and the Outlander Sport have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact 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, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive, blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.
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 Kia Sportage is safer than the Outlander Sport:
|
Sportage |
Outlander Sport |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Restraints |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Head Neck Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head injury index |
77 |
84 |
Peak Head Forces |
0 G’s |
0 G’s |
Steering Column Movement Rearward |
1 cm |
1 cm |
Chest Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Max Chest Compression |
23 cm |
28 cm |
Hip & Thigh Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Hip & Thigh Injury Risk R/L |
0%/0% |
1%/0% |
Lower Leg Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Tibia index R/L |
.68/.55 |
.68/.36 |
Tibia forces R/L |
1.4/.2 kN |
1.9/1.9 kN |
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 available headlight’s “Acceptable” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Sportage the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2022, a rating granted to only 155 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Outlander Sport is not a “Top Safety Pick.”