The XC60’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The QX50 doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
Both the XC60 and QX50 have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The XC60 Plus/Ultimate/Polestar has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The QX50’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.
The Volvo XC60 offers optional built in child booster seats. They’re more crash worthy than an added child seat because of their direct attachment to the seat. Infiniti doesn’t offer the convenience and security of a built-in child booster seat in the QX50. Their owners must carry a heavy booster seat in and out of the vehicle; XC60 owners can just fold their built-in child seat up or down.
Using vehicle speed sensors and seat sensors, smart airbags in the XC60 deploy with different levels of force or don’t deploy at all to help better protect passengers of all sizes in different collisions. The XC60’s side airbags will shut off if a child is leaning against the door. The QX50’s side airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.
The XC60 has a standard Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS), which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the WHIPS allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. At the same time the pretensioning seatbelts fire, removing slack from the belts. The QX50 doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
The XC60 has standard Post-impact braking, which automatically apply the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The QX50 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.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the XC60. But it costs extra on the QX50.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the XC60’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The QX50 doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.
Both the XC60 and QX50 have rear cross-traffic warning, but the XC60 has Braking Intervention (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The QX50’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert doesn’t automatically brake.
The XC60’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The QX50 doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the XC60 and the QX50 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, 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 available around view monitors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Volvo XC60 is safer than the Infiniti QX50:
|
|
XC60 |
QX50 |
| OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
|
Driver |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
| HIC |
125 |
236 |
| Neck Injury Risk |
22% |
26% |
| Neck Stress |
198 lbs. |
245 lbs. |
| Neck Compression |
15 lbs. |
42 lbs. |
|
|
Passenger |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
| HIC |
178 |
333 |
| Chest Compression |
.5 inches |
.6 inches |
| Neck Injury Risk |
28% |
31% |
| Leg Forces (l/r) |
329/351 lbs. |
504/622 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 Volvo XC60 is safer than the Infiniti QX50:
|
|
XC60 |
QX50 |
|
|
Front Seat |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| HIC |
73 |
98 |
| Chest Movement |
.7 inches |
1 inches |
| Abdominal Force |
126 lbs. |
151 lbs. |
| Hip Force |
190 lbs. |
306 lbs. |
|
|
Into Pole |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| Max Damage Depth |
12 inches |
17 inches |
| HIC |
237 |
333 |
| Spine Acceleration |
29 G’s |
39 G’s |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
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 XC60 the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2023, a rating granted to only 98 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The QX50 has not been fully tested, yet.