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 Dodge Charger 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 Charger doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Subaru Legacy 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 Charger doesn’t offer knee airbags.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Legacy. But it costs extra on the Charger.
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 Charger.
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 Charger doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Legacy and the Charger have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact 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 Dodge Charger:
|
Legacy |
Charger |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
Neck Injury Risk |
26% |
26% |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
230/249 lbs. |
582/440 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
Chest Compression |
.6 inches |
.7 inches |
Neck Stress |
147 lbs. |
155 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
161/137 lbs. |
267/469 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 Charger:
|
Legacy |
Charger |
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 Dodge Charger:
|
Legacy |
Charger |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
50 |
138 |
Chest Movement |
.7 inches |
1.4 inches |
Hip Force |
335 lbs. |
372 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
14 inches |
15 inches |
HIC |
104 |
270 |
Spine Acceleration |
38 G’s |
48 G’s |
Hip Force |
681 lbs. |
692 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
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 55 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Charger is not a “Top Safety Pick.”