The Jeep Renegade has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Soul doesn’t offer knee airbags.
The Renegade has standard Active Headrests, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Active Headrests system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Soul doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Renegade Limited offers optional Park Assist with Rear Stop that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The Soul doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Renegade has all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Soul doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.
The Renegade’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 Soul.
The Renegade has a standard blind spot warning system which uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the Soul’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Renegade 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. Rear cross-path warning costs extra on the Soul.
Compared to metal, the Renegade’s plastic fuel tank can withstand harder, more intrusive impacts without leaking; this decreases the possibility of fire. The Kia Soul has a metal gas tank.
The Renegade has standard SiriusXM Guardian, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to remotely unlock your doors if you lock your keys in, help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Soul doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.
Both the Renegade and the Soul 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, rearview cameras, available crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights 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 Jeep Renegade is safer than the Kia Soul:
|
Renegade |
Soul |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
Chest Compression |
.7 inches |
2 inches |
Neck Injury Risk |
35% |
39% |
Neck Compression |
47 lbs. |
86 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 Jeep Renegade is safer than the Kia Soul:
|
Renegade |
Soul |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Chest Movement |
1 inches |
1 inches |
Abdominal Force |
161 lbs. |
259 lbs. |
Hip Force |
328 lbs. |
490 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
3 Stars |
HIC |
314 |
322 |
Spine Acceleration |
39 G’s |
46 G’s |
Hip Force |
625 lbs. |
1090 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.