For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Lexus IS 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 Chrysler 300 doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The IS’ optional pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The 300 doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
The Lexus IS 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 300 doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.
The IS 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 300 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.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The IS offers optional Intuitive Parking Assist with Auto Braking that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The 300 doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The IS’ standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the 300.
The IS offers an optional Panoramic View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The 300 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 IS 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. Only the 300 S/Touring L offers a blind spot warning system.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the IS has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Alert to warn the driver of approaching traffic and automatically engage the brakes to help avoid a collision. Only the 300 S/Touring L offers Rear Cross Path Detection and the 300’s Rear Cross Path Detection does not include automatic braking.
Both the IS and the 300 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 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 Lexus IS is safer than the Chrysler 300:
|
IS |
300 |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
Chest Compression |
.5 inches |
.9 inches |
Neck Compression |
81 lbs. |
113 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
399/459 lbs. |
504/415 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the Lexus IS is safer than the 300:
|
IS |
300 |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
Restraints |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Neck Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head injury index |
122 |
222 |
Peak Head Forces |
0 G’s |
0 G’s |
Steering Column Movement Rearward |
0 cm |
9 cm |
Chest Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Hip & Thigh Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Femur Force R/L |
2/2.4 kN |
3.7/3 kN |
Hip & Thigh Injury Risk R/L |
0%/0% |
1%/0% |
Lower Leg Evaluation |
ACCEPTABLE |
POOR |
Tibia index R/L |
.73/.43 |
1.21/.58 |
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 Lexus IS is safer than the Chrysler 300:
|
IS |
300 |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
142 |
236 |
Chest Movement |
1 inches |
1.4 inches |
Abdominal Force |
203 lbs. |
315 lbs. |
Hip Force |
406 lbs. |
433 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Spine Acceleration |
28 G’s |
50 G’s |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
293 |
302 |
Spine Acceleration |
34 G’s |
47 G’s |
Hip Force |
650 lbs. |
910 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
Instrumented handling tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analysis of its dimensions indicate that the IS, with its five-star roll-over rating, is 1.8% less likely to roll over than the 300, which received a four-star rating.
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 standard headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the IS its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2022, a rating granted to only 126 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The 300 is not even a standard “Top Safety Pick.”