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 Envision doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The Mazda CX-30 has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Envision doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.
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 Envision doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the CX-30. But it costs extra on the Envision.
Both the CX-30 and Envision have 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 Envision doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the CX-30 and the Envision 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 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 Envision:
|
CX-30 |
Envision |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
148 |
175 |
Neck Compression |
18 lbs. |
25 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
201/172 lbs. |
153/386 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
179 |
223 |
Chest Compression |
.5 inches |
.6 inches |
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 Envision:
|
CX-30 |
Envision |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
73 |
128 |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
197 |
311 |
Hip Force |
525 lbs. |
572 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
12 inches |
15 inches |
HIC |
178 |
249 |
Spine Acceleration |
30 G’s |
36 G’s |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
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 Envision has not been tested, yet.