For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Hyundai Kona have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Chevrolet Equinox doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Hyundai Kona 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 Chevrolet Equinox doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Kona’s standard Downhill Brake Control allows you to creep down safely. The Equinox doesn’t offer Downhill Brake Control.
The Kona 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. A system to reveal vehicles in the Equinox’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Kona has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning and Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Chevrolet charges extra for Rear Cross Traffic Alert on the Equinox and the Equinox’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert does not include automatic braking.
The Kona’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 Equinox doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Kona and the Equinox have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH moderate front offset crash tests on new cars. In this updated test, results indicate that the Kona is much safer than the Equinox:
|
Kona |
Equinox |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
POOR |
Structure |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck Rating |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Chest Rating |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Thigh/hip Rating |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Leg/foot Rating |
ACCEPTABLE |
ACCEPTABLE |
Restraints |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Rear Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck Rating |
GOOD |
POOR |
Chest Rating |
GOOD |
POOR |
Thigh Rating |
GOOD |
GOOD |
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 Hyundai Kona is much safer than the Equinox:
|
Kona |
Equinox |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
Structure |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Neck Tension |
201 lbs. |
290 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
-112 lbs. |
112 lbs. |
Torso |
ACCEPTABLE |
MARGINAL |
Shoulder Deflection |
1.1 in |
1.73 in |
Shoulder Force |
178 lbs. |
312 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.57 in |
1.69 in |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Head Injury Criterion |
282 |
733 |
Head Peak Forces |
no contact |
101 G’s |
Neck Tension |
67 lbs. |
89 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
-134 lbs. |
491 lbs. |
Torso |
ACCEPTABLE |
ACCEPTABLE |
Shoulder Force |
335 lbs. |
402 lbs. |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
The Hyundai Kona has achieved the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) highest rating of “Top Safety Pick Plus” for the 2024 model year. This distinction is based on its exceptional performance in IIHS’ rigorous battery of safety tests. Specifically, it earned a “Good” rating in the latest, more stringent moderate overlap front crash test, a “Good” result in the updated side impact test, and a “Good” score in the revised pedestrian crash prevention test. The Equinox is not even a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2024.