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 Atlas Cross Sport are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Corsair doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Atlas Cross Sport 4Motion’s standard Hill Descent Assist allows you to creep down safely. The Corsair doesn’t offer Hill Descent Assist.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Atlas Cross Sport has standard Rear Traffic Alert with automatic braking, systems which detect vehicles approaching from the sides and can automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. Rear Cross Traffic Braking costs extra on the Corsair.
Both the Atlas Cross Sport and the Corsair 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, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.
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 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport is safer than the Lincoln Corsair:
|
Atlas Cross Sport |
Corsair |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
48 |
197 |
Chest Movement |
.5 inches |
.9 inches |
Abdominal Force |
64 lbs. |
191 lbs. |
Hip Force |
215 lbs. |
240 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Spine Acceleration |
35 G’s |
43 G’s |
Hip Force |
529 lbs. |
816 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
309 |
344 |
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 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport is much safer than the Corsair:
|
Atlas Cross Sport |
Corsair |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
Structure |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
42 |
391 |
Head Peak Forces |
no contact |
93 G’s |
Neck Tension |
156 lbs. |
379 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
Shoulder Deflection |
.83 in |
1.1 in |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.1 in |
1.77 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
4 MPH |
8 MPH |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
163 |
168 |
Neck Tension |
178 lbs. |
201 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Shoulder Deflection |
.43 in |
1.54 in |
Shoulder Force |
178 lbs. |
379 lbs. |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Pelvis Force |
848 lbs. |
1093 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
The Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport achieved a “Top Safety Pick” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for the 2024 model year. This recognition was based on its impressive performance in the small overlap frontal crash test, updated side impact crash test, headlight evaluations, and pedestrian crash prevention testing. The Corsair is not a “Top Safety Pick” for 2024.