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 Impreza are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Rav4 doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Impreza 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 Rav4 doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Impreza. But it costs extra on the Rav4.
Both the Impreza and the Rav4 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available crash mitigating brakes, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rear parking sensors, rear cross-path warning and driver alert monitors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Subaru Impreza is safer than the Toyota Rav4:
|
|
Impreza |
Rav4 |
| OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
|
Driver |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
| Neck Stress |
247 lbs. |
306 lbs. |
| Neck Compression |
50 lbs. |
56 lbs. |
| Leg Forces (l/r) |
237/379 lbs. |
400/388 lbs. |
|
|
Passenger |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| HIC |
117 |
284 |
| Neck Injury Risk |
34% |
37.4% |
| Neck Stress |
208 lbs. |
258 lbs. |
| Neck Compression |
70 lbs. |
95 lbs. |
| Leg Forces (l/r) |
76/57 lbs. |
340/190 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 post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Subaru Impreza is safer than the Toyota Rav4:
|
|
Impreza |
Rav4 |
|
|
Into Pole |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| Max Damage Depth |
13 inches |
14 inches |
| HIC |
201 |
299 |
| Hip Force |
824 lbs. |
835 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 Impreza, with its five-star roll-over rating, is 6% to 6.4% less likely to roll over than the Rav4, which received a four-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, with its optional vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, with its optional vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its headlight’s “Acceptable” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Impreza the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2022, a rating granted to only 141 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Rav4 has not been fully tested, yet.