For enhanced safety, the front and middle seat shoulder belts of the Jeep Grand Cherokee L are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV doesn’t offer height-adjustable middle seat belts.
The Grand Cherokee L has standard Active Head Restraints, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Active Head Restraints system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Outlander PHEV doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
A passive infrared night vision system optional on the Grand Cherokee L Overland/Summit helps the driver to more easily detect people, animals or other objects in front of the vehicle at night. Using an infrared camera to detect heat, the system then displays the image on a monitor in the dashboard. The Outlander PHEV doesn’t offer a night vision system.
Both the Grand Cherokee L and the Outlander PHEV have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee 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, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive, around view monitors and driver alert monitors.
Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Jeep Grand Cherokee L is safer than the Outlander PHEV:
|
Grand Cherokee L |
Outlander PHEV |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Structure |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
163 |
203 |
Neck Compression |
67 lbs. |
89 lbs. |
Torso |
ACCEPTABLE |
ACCEPTABLE |
Shoulder Force |
178 lbs. |
201 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.3 in |
1.61 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
7 MPH |
10 MPH |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Pelvis Force |
870 lbs. |
1071 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head Injury Criterion |
96 |
125 |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, daytime pedestrian crash prevention, and nighttime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Grand Cherokee L its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 36 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Outlander PHEV is only a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2023.