Both the GV80 and CX-5 have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The GV80 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 CX-5’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.
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 GV80 are reminded to check the back seat when a sensor determines the back seat is occupied. The CX-5 doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Genesis GV80 has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The CX-5 doesn’t offer knee airbags.
The GV80 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 CX-5 doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the GV80’s standard Downhill Brake Control allows you to creep down safely. The CX-5 doesn’t offer Downhill Brake Control.
Both the GV80 and CX-5 have rear cross-traffic warning, but the GV80 has Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The CX-5’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert doesn’t automatically brake.
Both the GV80 and the CX-5 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, 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 available around view monitors.
The Genesis GV80 weighs 650 to 1321 pounds more than the Mazda CX-5. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.
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 Genesis GV80 is safer than the Mazda CX-5:
|
GV80 |
CX-5 |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
29 |
81 |
Chest Movement |
.5 inches |
.5 inches |
Abdominal Force |
101 lbs. |
126 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
70 |
208 |
Spine Acceleration |
26 G’s |
65 G’s |
Hip Force |
458 lbs. |
524 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
290 |
449 |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The Genesis GV80 (built after August 2023) has achieved the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) highest rating of “Top Safety Pick Plus” for the 2024 model year. This distinction is based on its exceptional performance in IIHS’ rigorous battery of safety tests. Specifically, it earned a “Good” rating in the latest, more stringent moderate overlap front crash test, a “Good” result in the updated side impact test, and an “Acceptable” score in the revised pedestrian crash prevention test. The CX-5 has not yet been fully evaluated by the IIHS for 2024.