For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Subaru Outback 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 Highlander Hybrid doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Outback. But it costs extra on the Highlander Hybrid.
Both the Outback and the Highlander Hybrid 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, available 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 Outback is safer than the Toyota Highlander Hybrid:
|
Outback |
Highlander Hybrid |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
158 |
292 |
Neck Injury Risk |
26% |
38.2% |
Neck Stress |
281 lbs. |
347 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
230/249 lbs. |
321/243 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
241 |
328 |
Chest Compression |
.6 inches |
.6 inches |
Neck Stress |
147 lbs. |
179 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
51 lbs. |
90 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
161/137 lbs. |
545/323 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 Subaru Outback is safer than the Toyota Highlander Hybrid:
|
Outback |
Highlander Hybrid |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
28 |
55 |
Hip Force |
247 lbs. |
300 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
14 inches |
15 inches |
HIC |
146 |
366 |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.