For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Infiniti QX60 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 Honda Pilot doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.
The QX60 Sensory/Autograph’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Pilot doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
For enhanced safety, the front and middle seat shoulder belts of the Infiniti QX60 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 Honda Pilot doesn’t offer height-adjustable middle 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 QX60 are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Pilot doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Infiniti QX60 has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Pilot doesn’t offer knee airbags.
The QX60 Autograph has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Pilot doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The QX60 has standard Rear Automatic Braking that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Pilot doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The QX60 Luxe/Sensory/Autograph has a standard Around View® Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Pilot 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 QX60 Luxe/Sensory/Autograph’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 Pilot doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the QX60 and the Pilot have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, 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 all wheel drive.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Infiniti QX60 is safer than the Honda Pilot:
|
QX60 |
Pilot |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
Chest Compression |
.6 inches |
.6 inches |
Neck Compression |
93 lbs. |
478 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
236/309 lbs. |
478/436 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 Infiniti QX60 is safer than the Honda Pilot:
|
QX60 |
Pilot |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
84 |
109 |
Hip Force |
244 lbs. |
269 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
88 |
233 |
Spine Acceleration |
33 G’s |
42 G’s |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
14 inches |
15 inches |
HIC |
234 |
406 |
Spine Acceleration |
37 G’s |
45 G’s |
Hip Force |
466 lbs. |
838 lbs. |
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 Infiniti QX60 is much safer than the Pilot:
|
QX60 |
Pilot |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
Structure |
ACCEPTABLE |
MARGINAL |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
125 |
206 |
Neck Tension |
268 lbs. |
335 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Shoulder Deflection |
.63 in |
.67 in |
Torso Max Deflection |
.94 in |
1.22 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
5 MPH |
5 MPH |
Pelvis Force |
1160 lbs. |
1339 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
65 |
206 |
Neck Tension |
89 lbs. |
178 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
Shoulder Deflection |
.55 in |
.94 in |
Shoulder Force |
178 lbs. |
335 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
.75 in |
2.05 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
4 MPH |
12 MPH |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Pelvis Force |
580 lbs. |
759 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 QX60 its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 36 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Pilot last would have qualified as only a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2019.