For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Corolla 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 Subaru Crosstrek doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The Corolla Cross has a standard Secondary Collision Brake, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Crosstrek doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.
Both the Corolla Cross and Crosstrek offer rear cross-traffic warning, but the Corolla Cross XLE has Parking Support Brake (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Crosstrek’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert doesn’t automatically brake.
Both the Corolla Cross and the Crosstrek have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive, blind spot warning systems and rear parking sensors.
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 Toyota Corolla Cross is safer than the Subaru Crosstrek:
|
Corolla Cross |
Crosstrek |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
92 |
138 |
Abdominal Force |
129 lbs. |
196 lbs. |
Hip Force |
330 lbs. |
346 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
137 |
303 |
Spine Acceleration |
43 G’s |
58 G’s |
Hip Force |
367 lbs. |
428 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
12 inches |
13 inches |
Spine Acceleration |
32 G’s |
49 G’s |
Hip Force |
623 lbs. |
824 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 Toyota Corolla Cross is much safer than the Crosstrek:
|
Corolla Cross |
Crosstrek |
Overall Evaluation |
ACCEPTABLE |
POOR |
Structure |
GOOD |
POOR |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
193 |
245 |
Head Peak Forces |
no contact |
55 G’s |
Neck Tension |
223 lbs. |
290 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
Shoulder Deflection |
.94 in |
1.89 in |
Shoulder Force |
245 lbs. |
357 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.38 in |
2.01 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
6 MPH |
10 MPH |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
131 |
231 |
Neck Tension |
67 lbs. |
89 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
67 lbs. |
178 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
Shoulder Deflection |
.83 in |
2.09 in |
Shoulder Force |
156 lbs. |
424 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.06 in |
1.69 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
4 MPH |
13 MPH |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, and daytime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Corolla Cross the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2023, a rating granted to only 72 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Crosstrek last would have qualified as a “Top Safety Pick” in 2022.