For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Hyundai Kona have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Toyota Corolla Hatchback doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
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 Kona are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Corolla Hatchback doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Kona offers all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Corolla Hatchback doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.
The Kona Limited has a standard Surround View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Corolla Hatchback only offers a rear monitor.
The Kona 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. A system to reveal vehicles in the Corolla Hatchback’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Kona has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning and Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Toyota charges extra for Rear Cross-Traffic Alert on the Corolla Hatchback and the Corolla Hatchback’s Rear Cross-Traffic Alert does not include automatic braking.
Both the Kona and the Corolla Hatchback have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front 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, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and driver alert monitors.
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 Hyundai Kona is safer than the Corolla Hatchback:
|
Kona |
Corolla Hatchback |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Structure |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Neck Compression |
-112 lbs. |
134 lbs. |
Torso |
ACCEPTABLE |
ACCEPTABLE |
Shoulder Force |
178 lbs. |
268 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.57 in |
1.61 in |
Pelvis |
ACCEPTABLE |
MARGINAL |
Pelvis Force |
915 lbs. |
1339 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Neck Compression |
-134 lbs. |
89 lbs. |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Pelvis Force |
759 lbs. |
1026 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
The Hyundai Kona 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 a “Good” score in the revised pedestrian crash prevention test. The Corolla Hatchback was last only a “Top Safety Pick” in 2023 but no longer qualifies.