For enhanced safety, the Buick Enclave’s middle seat shoulder belts have child comfort guides to move the belt to properly fit children. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages children to buckle up. The Subaru Ascent doesn’t offer comfort guides on its middle seat belts.
The Enclave has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Ascent doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.
The Enclave has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. Only the Ascent Premium/Limited/Touring offers a blind spot warning system.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Enclave has standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert, helping the driver avoid collisions. Only the Ascent Premium/Limited/Touring offers rear cross-path warning.
Both the Enclave and the Ascent have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, plastic fuel tanks, 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 all wheel drive 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 Buick Enclave is safer than the Subaru Ascent:
|
Enclave |
Ascent |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Neck Injury Risk |
15.6% |
21% |
Neck Stress |
198 lbs. |
229 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
53/40 lbs. |
159/292 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 Buick Enclave is safer than the Subaru Ascent:
|
Enclave |
Ascent |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Hip Force |
204 lbs. |
274 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
14 inches |
18 inches |
Spine Acceleration |
34 G’s |
52 G’s |
Hip Force |
554 lbs. |
637 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.