For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV 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 Hybrid doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV 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 Crosstrek Hybrid doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.
The Outlander PHEV has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Crosstrek Hybrid doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.
The Outlander PHEV SE/SEL has a standard Multi View Camera to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Crosstrek Hybrid only offers a rear monitor and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the front or sides.
Compared to metal, the Outlander PHEV’s plastic fuel tank can withstand harder, more intrusive impacts without leaking; this decreases the possibility of fire. The Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid has a metal gas tank.
Both the Outlander PHEV and the Crosstrek Hybrid 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, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and driver alert monitors.
The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV weighs 890 to 934 pounds more than the Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.
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 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is much safer than the Crosstrek Hybrid:
|
Outlander PHEV |
Crosstrek Hybrid |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
POOR |
Structure |
ACCEPTABLE |
POOR |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
203 |
245 |
Head Peak Forces |
no contact |
55 G’s |
Neck Tension |
223 lbs. |
290 lbs. |
Torso |
ACCEPTABLE |
MARGINAL |
Shoulder Deflection |
.83 in |
1.89 in |
Shoulder Force |
201 lbs. |
357 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.61 in |
2.01 in |
Pelvis |
ACCEPTABLE |
ACCEPTABLE |
Pelvis Force |
1071 lbs. |
1116 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
125 |
231 |
Neck Tension |
67 lbs. |
89 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
67 lbs. |
178 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
Shoulder Deflection |
.31 in |
2.09 in |
Shoulder Force |
156 lbs. |
424 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
.75 in |
1.69 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
3 MPH |
13 MPH |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Pelvis Force |
469 lbs. |
825 lbs. |
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 Outlander PHEV the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2023, a rating granted to only 85 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Crosstrek Hybrid last would have qualified as a “Top Safety Pick” in 2022.