The V60 Cross Country’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Mazda 3 doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
Both the V60 Cross Country and Mazda 3 have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The V60 Cross Country has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Mazda 3’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.
The V60 Cross Country has standard Post-impact braking, which automatically apply the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Mazda 3 doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the V60 Cross Country. But it costs extra on the Mazda 3.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the V60 Cross Country has standard Cross Traffic Alert with Braking Intervention, systems which detect vehicles approaching from the sides and can automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. Only the Mazda 3 Turbo Premium Plus offers Rear Cross Traffic Braking.
Both the V60 Cross Country and the Mazda 3 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, 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 and driver alert monitors.
The Volvo V60 Cross Country weighs 685 to 1036 pounds more than the Mazda 3. The NHTSA advises that heavier cars are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Volvo V60 Cross Country is safer than the Mazda 3:
|
V60 Cross Country |
Mazda 3 |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Neck Stress |
189 lbs. |
214 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 Volvo V60 Cross Country is safer than the Mazda 3:
|
V60 Cross Country |
Mazda 3 |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
103 |
112 |
Chest Movement |
.9 inches |
.9 inches |
Abdominal Force |
194 lbs. |
238 lbs. |
Hip Force |
212 lbs. |
239 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
271 |
371 |
Spine Acceleration |
50 G’s |
71 G’s |
Hip Force |
575 lbs. |
620 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Spine Acceleration |
29 G’s |
30 G’s |
Hip Force |
490 lbs. |
527 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.