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 Kona are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Eclipse Cross doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Kona’s standard Downhill Brake Control allows you to creep down safely. The Eclipse Cross doesn’t offer Downhill Brake Control.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Kona has a standard rear cross-path warning system, which uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. Only the Eclipse Cross SE/SEL has a rear cross-path warning system.
The Kona’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 Eclipse Cross doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Kona and the Eclipse Cross have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact 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, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive and rear parking sensors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Hyundai Kona is safer than the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross:
|
Kona |
Eclipse Cross |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
205 |
248 |
Neck Injury Risk |
20% |
38.7% |
Neck Stress |
207 lbs. |
424 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
29/232 lbs. |
184/324 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
Chest Compression |
.6 inches |
.7 inches |
Neck Injury Risk |
37% |
39.7% |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
59/27 lbs. |
331/198 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 Kona is safer than the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross:
|
Kona |
Eclipse Cross |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
109 |
145 |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
13 inches |
14 inches |
HIC |
196 |
358 |
Spine Acceleration |
34 G’s |
44 G’s |
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 Kona is 4.4% to 4.9% less likely to roll over than the Eclipse Cross.
For its top level performance in all IIHS frontal, side, rear impact and roof-crush tests, and with its optional front crash prevention system, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Kona the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2017, a rating granted to only 230 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Eclipse Cross has not been fully tested, yet.