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 Elantra are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Forte doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Elantra Limited has standard Reverse 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 Forte doesn’t offer automatic braking for stationary objects directly to the rear.
The Elantra 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 Forte’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Elantra has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning and Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Kia charges extra for Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning on the Forte and its not available on the LX.
Compared to metal, the Elantra’s plastic fuel tank can withstand harder, more intrusive impacts without leaking; this decreases the possibility of fire. The Kia Forte has a metal gas tank.
Both the Elantra and the Forte have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, 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, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors and available rear parking sensors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Hyundai Elantra is safer than the Kia Forte:
|
|
Elantra |
Forte |
|
|
Driver |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
| HIC |
142 |
245 |
| Neck Injury Risk |
21% |
24.2% |
| Leg Forces (l/r) |
66/48 lbs. |
74/132 lbs. |
|
|
Passenger |
|
| STARS |
4 Stars |
3 Stars |
| HIC |
314 |
325 |
| Chest Compression |
.6 inches |
1.1 inches |
| Neck Injury Risk |
42% |
49.1% |
| Neck Compression |
6 lbs. |
99 lbs. |
| Leg Forces (l/r) |
135/61 lbs. |
173/101 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 Hyundai Elantra is safer than the Kia Forte:
|
|
Elantra |
Forte |
|
|
Front Seat |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| HIC |
83 |
153 |
| Abdominal Force |
239 lbs. |
282 lbs. |
|
|
Rear Seat |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| Spine Acceleration |
68 G’s |
89 G’s |
| Hip Force |
355 lbs. |
735 lbs. |
|
|
Into Pole |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| Max Damage Depth |
11 inches |
12 inches |
| HIC |
184 |
367 |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its available headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Elantra the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2022, a rating granted to only 176 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Forte last would have qualified as a “Top Safety Pick” in 2017.