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 Kona N are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Durango SRT doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Kona N’s standard Downhill Brake Control allows you to creep down safely. The Durango SRT doesn’t offer Downhill Brake Control.
The Kona N’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 Durango SRT.
Both the Kona N and Durango SRT have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Kona N has Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Durango SRT’s Rear Cross Path Detection doesn’t automatically brake.
The Kona N’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 Durango SRT doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Kona N and the Durango SRT have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras and rear cross-path warning.
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 Hyundai Kona N is safer than the Durango SRT:
|
|
Kona N |
Durango SRT |
| Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
| Restraints |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
| Head Neck Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
| Peak Head Forces |
0 G’s |
0 G’s |
| Steering Column Movement Rearward |
3 cm |
9 cm |
| Chest Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
| Hip & Thigh Evaluation |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
| Femur Force R/L |
2.9/1.2 kN |
5.3/2.5 kN |
| Hip & Thigh Injury Risk R/L |
0%/0% |
6%/0% |
| Lower Leg Evaluation |
GOOD |
POOR |
| Tibia index R/L |
.46/.55 |
1.53/.59 |
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 Hyundai Kona N is safer than the Dodge Durango SRT:
|
|
Kona N |
Durango SRT |
|
|
Front Seat |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| Chest Movement |
.8 inches |
1.1 inches |
|
|
Into Pole |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| Max Damage Depth |
13 inches |
14 inches |
| Spine Acceleration |
34 G’s |
43 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 with its optional front crash prevention system, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Kona N the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2017, a rating granted to only 231 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Durango SRT was not even a “Top Safety Pick” for 2016.