For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Volvo V60 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 MINI Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The V60’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Volvo V60 are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The MINI Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.
The V60 has a standard Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS), which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the WHIPS allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. At the same time the pretensioning seatbelts fire, removing slack from the belts. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tests front crash prevention systems. With a score of 6 points, IIHS rates the City Safety in the V60 as “Superior.” The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door scores only 4 points and is rated only “Advanced.”
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The V60 has standard CTA Auto Brake that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The V60 has all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.
The V60 has a standard 360° Camera to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door 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 V60’s blind spot warning system uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a system to reveal objects in the driver’s blind spots.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the V60’s standard rear cross-path warning system uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a cross-path warning system.
Both the V60 and the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and driver alert monitors.
The Volvo V60 weighs 1532 to 1649 pounds more than the MINI Cooper Hardtop 4 Door. The NHTSA advises that heavier cars are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts. Crosswinds also affect lighter cars more.
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, with its optional vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its standard headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the V60 its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2022, a rating granted to only 95 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door has not been fully tested, yet.