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 Sportage 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 Sportage 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 Sportage doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Renegade. But it costs extra on the Sportage.
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 Sportage’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 Sportage.
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 Sportage 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 Sportage have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, lane departure warning systems, 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 Sportage:
|
|
Renegade |
Sportage |
|
|
Driver |
|
| STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
| HIC |
207 |
207 |
| Neck Compression |
18 lbs. |
72 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 post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Jeep Renegade is safer than the Kia Sportage:
|
|
Renegade |
Sportage |
|
|
Into Pole |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| Spine Acceleration |
39 G’s |
43 G’s |
| Hip Force |
625 lbs. |
873 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.