For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross 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 Kia Soul doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Soul doesn’t offer knee airbags.
The Eclipse Cross has all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Soul doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.
The Eclipse Cross SEL has a standard Multi-View Camera to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Soul only offers a rear monitor.
The Eclipse Cross LE/SE/SEL has standard Mitsubishi Connect, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to remotely unlock your doors if you lock your keys in, help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Soul doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.
Both the Eclipse Cross and the Soul have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, 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, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.
The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross weighs 430 to 617 pounds more than the Kia Soul. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts. Crosswinds also affect lighter cars more.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross is safer than the Kia Soul:
|
Eclipse Cross |
Soul |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
215 |
324 |
Chest Compression |
.7 inches |
2 inches |
Neck Compression |
55 lbs. |
86 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 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross is safer than the Kia Soul:
|
Eclipse Cross |
Soul |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Chest Movement |
.5 inches |
1 inches |
Abdominal Force |
154 lbs. |
259 lbs. |
Hip Force |
292 lbs. |
490 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
162 |
422 |
Spine Acceleration |
55 G’s |
73 G’s |
Hip Force |
464 lbs. |
611 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
3 Stars |
Spine Acceleration |
44 G’s |
46 G’s |
Hip Force |
622 lbs. |
1090 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.