For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Hyundai Tucson Hybrid 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 Subaru Crosstrek doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The Tucson Hybrid Limited has a standard Around View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Crosstrek 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 Tucson Hybrid 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 and moves the vehicle back into its lane. A system to reveal vehicles in the Crosstrek’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Tucson Hybrid has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning and Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Subaru charges extra for Rear Cross Traffic Alert on the Crosstrek and its not available on the Base/Manual and the Crosstrek’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert does not include automatic braking.
Both the Tucson Hybrid and the Crosstrek have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights and rearview cameras.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Hyundai Tucson Hybrid is safer than the Subaru Crosstrek:
|
Tucson Hybrid |
Crosstrek |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
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 Tucson Hybrid is much safer than the Crosstrek:
|
Tucson Hybrid |
Crosstrek |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
POOR |
Structure |
GOOD |
POOR |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
121 |
245 |
Head Peak Forces |
no contact |
55 G’s |
Neck Tension |
223 lbs. |
290 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
-45 lbs. |
0 lbs. |
Torso |
ACCEPTABLE |
MARGINAL |
Shoulder Deflection |
1.1 in |
1.89 in |
Shoulder Force |
223 lbs. |
357 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.34 in |
2.01 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
9 MPH |
10 MPH |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Pelvis Force |
759 lbs. |
1116 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
116 |
231 |
Neck Tension |
45 lbs. |
89 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
-134 lbs. |
178 lbs. |
Torso |
ACCEPTABLE |
MARGINAL |
Shoulder Deflection |
1.1 in |
2.09 in |
Shoulder Force |
245 lbs. |
424 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.38 in |
1.69 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
5 MPH |
13 MPH |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Pelvis Force |
669 lbs. |
825 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, daytime pedestrian crash prevention, and nighttime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Tucson Hybrid its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 67 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Crosstrek was last a “Top Safety Pick Plus” in 2019 but no longer qualifies.