The XC40’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The QX50 doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
Both the XC40 and QX50 have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The XC40 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 QX50’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 XC40 has a standard Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS), which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the WHIPS allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. At the same time the pretensioning seatbelts fire, removing slack from the belts. The QX50 doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
The XC40 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 QX50 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 XC40. But it costs extra on the QX50.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the XC40’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The QX50 doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.
Both the XC40 and QX50 have rear cross-traffic warning, but the XC40 has Braking Intervention (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The QX50’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert doesn’t automatically brake.
The XC40’s 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 QX50 doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the XC40 and the QX50 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, 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 and available 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 Volvo XC40 is safer than the Infiniti QX50:
|
|
XC40 |
QX50 |
| OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
|
Driver |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
| HIC |
200 |
236 |
| Neck Stress |
209 lbs. |
245 lbs. |
| Neck Compression |
25 lbs. |
42 lbs. |
|
|
Passenger |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
| Chest Compression |
.5 inches |
.6 inches |
| Neck Injury Risk |
31% |
31% |
| Neck Stress |
156 lbs. |
161 lbs. |
| Leg Forces (l/r) |
397/411 lbs. |
504/622 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 XC40 is safer than the Infiniti QX50:
|
|
XC40 |
QX50 |
|
|
Front Seat |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| HIC |
78 |
98 |
| Chest Movement |
.9 inches |
1 inches |
|
|
Into Pole |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| Max Damage Depth |
13 inches |
17 inches |
| HIC |
237 |
333 |
| Spine Acceleration |
33 G’s |
39 G’s |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
For its top level performance in all IIHS frontal, side, rear impact and roof-crush tests, and its standard front crash prevention system, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the XC40 the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2017, a rating granted to only 231 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The QX50 has not been fully tested, yet.