For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Hyundai Tucson 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 Nissan Kicks doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The Tucson offers all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Kicks doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Tucson’s standard Downhill Brake Control allows you to creep down safely. The Kicks doesn’t offer Downhill Brake Control.
Both the Tucson and Kicks have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Tucson has Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Kicks’ Rear Cross Traffic Alert doesn’t automatically brake.
Both the Tucson and the Kicks have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear 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, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available around view monitors.
The Hyundai Tucson weighs 595 to 1005 pounds more than the Nissan Kicks. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts. Crosswinds also affect lighter cars more.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Hyundai Tucson is safer than the Nissan Kicks:
|
Tucson |
Kicks |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
Neck Injury Risk |
24% |
32% |
Neck Stress |
164 lbs. |
374 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
14 lbs. |
27 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
27/60 lbs. |
343/312 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
3 Stars |
HIC |
325 |
326 |
Chest Compression |
.4 inches |
.6 inches |
Neck Injury Risk |
35% |
79% |
Neck Stress |
125 lbs. |
392 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
59 lbs. |
138 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
51/13 lbs. |
370/209 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, results indicate that the Hyundai Tucson is safer than the Nissan Kicks:
|
Tucson |
Kicks |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
71 |
139 |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
37 |
318 |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The Hyundai Tucson 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 Kicks has not yet been fully evaluated by the IIHS for 2024.