For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Mazda CX-30 have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Buick Encore GX doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The CX-30 has standard Whiplash-Reducing Headrests, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Whiplash-Reducing Headrests system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Encore GX doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The CX-30 Turbo Premium Plus has standard Rear Smart Brake Support that use rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically apply 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 CX-30. But it costs extra on the Encore GX.
Both the CX-30 and Encore GX offer Rear Cross Traffic Alert, but the CX-30 Turbo Premium Plus has Rear Cross Traffic Braking (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic.
The CX-30’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 CX-30 and the Encore GX have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger 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 and around view monitors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Mazda CX-30 is safer than the Buick Encore GX:
|
|
CX-30 |
Encore GX |
|
|
Driver |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| HIC |
148 |
185 |
|
|
Passenger |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
| HIC |
179 |
401 |
| Leg Forces (l/r) |
380/386 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 Mazda CX-30 is safer than the Buick Encore GX:
|
|
CX-30 |
Encore GX |
|
|
Front Seat |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| HIC |
73 |
91 |
| Chest Movement |
1 inches |
1.1 inches |
| Hip Force |
275 lbs. |
459 lbs. |
|
|
Into Pole |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| Max Damage Depth |
12 inches |
13 inches |
| HIC |
178 |
337 |
| Spine Acceleration |
30 G’s |
38 G’s |
| Hip Force |
583 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 CX-30 is 2.4% to 3.8% less likely to roll over than the Encore GX.
For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, and daytime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the CX-30 the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2023, a rating granted to only 53 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Encore GX last would have qualified as a “Top Safety Pick” in 2022.