For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Subaru Legacy 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 Chrysler 300 doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
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 Legacy are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The 300 doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Legacy Sport/Limited/Touring has standard Reverse Automatic Braking that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The 300 doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Legacy. But it costs extra on the 300.
The Legacy’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the 300.
The Legacy’s optional 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 300 doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Legacy and the 300 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, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems, rear parking sensors and rear cross-path warning.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Subaru Legacy is safer than the Chrysler 300:
|
Legacy |
300 |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
Neck Injury Risk |
26% |
31% |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
230/249 lbs. |
617/568 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
Chest Compression |
.6 inches |
.9 inches |
Neck Compression |
51 lbs. |
113 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
161/137 lbs. |
504/415 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the Subaru Legacy is safer than the 300:
|
Legacy |
300 |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
Restraints |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Neck Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head injury index |
131 |
222 |
Peak Head Forces |
0 G’s |
0 G’s |
Steering Column Movement Rearward |
0 cm |
9 cm |
Chest Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Max Chest Compression |
25 cm |
28 cm |
Hip & Thigh Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Femur Force R/L |
.4/.7 kN |
3.7/3 kN |
Hip & Thigh Injury Risk R/L |
0%/0% |
1%/0% |
Lower Leg Evaluation |
GOOD |
POOR |
Tibia index R/L |
.59/.48 |
1.21/.58 |
Tibia forces R/L |
2.5/2.5 kN |
3/4.7 kN |
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 Subaru Legacy is safer than the Chrysler 300:
|
Legacy |
300 |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
50 |
236 |
Chest Movement |
.7 inches |
1.4 inches |
Abdominal Force |
216 lbs. |
315 lbs. |
Hip Force |
335 lbs. |
433 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
14 inches |
14 inches |
HIC |
104 |
302 |
Spine Acceleration |
38 G’s |
47 G’s |
Hip Force |
681 lbs. |
910 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 Legacy, with its five-star roll-over rating, is 1.2% less likely to roll over than the 300, which received a four-star rating.
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 Legacy the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2023, a rating granted to only 53 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The 300 is not a “Top Safety Pick.”