Both the Santa Fe Hybrid and Encore GX have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Santa Fe Hybrid has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Encore GX’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Santa Fe Hybrid Limited has standard Parking Collision Avoidance Assist that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Encore GX doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Santa Fe Hybrid. But it costs extra on the Encore GX.
The Santa Fe Hybrid has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them and moves the vehicle back into its lane. A system to reveal vehicles in the Encore GX’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Santa Fe Hybrid has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning and Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Buick charges extra for Rear Cross Traffic Alert on the Encore GX and the Encore GX’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert does not include automatic braking.
The Santa Fe Hybrid’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 Encore GX doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Santa Fe Hybrid and the Encore GX have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and available around view monitors.
The Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid weighs 805 to 1202 pounds more than the Buick Encore GX. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid is safer than the Buick Encore GX:
|
Santa Fe Hybrid |
Encore GX |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Neck Injury Risk |
16% |
24% |
Neck Stress |
149 lbs. |
190 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
13 lbs. |
15 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
50/51 lbs. |
83/261 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
244 |
401 |
Chest Compression |
.4 inches |
.4 inches |
Neck Injury Risk |
27% |
29% |
Neck Stress |
99 lbs. |
153 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
222/167 lbs. |
409/383 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 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid is safer than the Buick Encore GX:
|
Santa Fe Hybrid |
Encore GX |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
61 |
91 |
Chest Movement |
1.1 inches |
1.1 inches |
Abdominal Force |
164 lbs. |
199 lbs. |
Hip Force |
415 lbs. |
459 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
148 |
185 |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Hip Force |
576 lbs. |
591 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 Santa Fe Hybrid is 3.2% to 3.8% less likely to roll over than the Encore GX.
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 Santa Fe Hybrid its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2022, a rating granted to only 126 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Encore GX is only a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2022.