For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Buick Encore GX 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 Hyundai Venue doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.
The Buick Encore GX has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Venue doesn’t offer knee airbags.
The Encore GX offers all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Venue doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.
The Encore GX offers an optional Surround View to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Venue only offers a rear monitor.
The Encore GX 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 and moves the vehicle back into its lane. Only the Venue SEL and Limited offer a system to reveal vehicles in the Venue’s blind spots.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Encore GX has standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert, helping the driver to avoid collisions. Only the Venue SEL/Limited offers Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning.
Both the Encore GX and the Venue have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, lane departure warning systems, and rearview cameras.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Buick Encore GX is safer than the Hyundai Venue:
|
Encore GX |
Venue |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
185 |
335 |
Neck Injury Risk |
24% |
32% |
Neck Stress |
190 lbs. |
270 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
15 lbs. |
182 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
83/261 lbs. |
769/350 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
Chest Compression |
.4 inches |
.8 inches |
Neck Injury Risk |
29% |
48% |
Neck Stress |
153 lbs. |
206 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 Encore GX is safer than the Hyundai Venue:
|
Encore GX |
Venue |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
91 |
154 |
Chest Movement |
1.1 inches |
1.1 inches |
Abdominal Force |
199 lbs. |
215 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
185 |
223 |
Spine Acceleration |
41 G’s |
82 G’s |
Hip Force |
517 lbs. |
843 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
337 |
343 |
Spine Acceleration |
38 G’s |
42 G’s |
Hip Force |
591 lbs. |
790 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.