For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Hyundai Ioniq 6 have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The MINI Cooper SE doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Hyundai Ioniq 6 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 MINI Cooper SE doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.
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 Ioniq 6 are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Ioniq 6 Limited has standard Parking Collision Avoidance Assist that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Ioniq 6 has all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.
The Ioniq 6 Limited has a standard Surround View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Cooper SE only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.
The Ioniq 6’s blind spot warning system uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer a system to reveal objects in the driver’s blind spots.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Ioniq 6’s standard Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning uses sensors in the rear to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side and Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.
Both the Ioniq 6 and the Cooper SE have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and driver alert monitors.
The Hyundai Ioniq 6 weighs 792 to 1473 pounds more than the MINI Cooper SE. The NHTSA advises that heavier cars are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts. Crosswinds also affect lighter cars more.
The Hyundai Ioniq 6 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 an “Acceptable” 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 Cooper SE has not yet been evaluated by the IIHS for 2024.