For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Lexus UX 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 Kia Soul doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The Lexus UX 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 Soul doesn’t offer knee airbags.
Using vehicle speed sensors and seat sensors, smart airbags in the UX deploy with different levels of force or don’t deploy at all to help better protect passengers of all sizes in different collisions. The UX’s side airbags will shut off if a child is leaning against the door. The Soul’s side airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.
The UX has standard Whiplash Injury Lessening Front Seatbacks, which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Whiplash Injury Lessening Front Seatbacks system allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Soul doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
The UX has a standard Secondary Collision Brake, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Soul 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.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The UX offers an optional Parking Support Brake that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Soul doesn’t offer automatic braking for stationary objects directly to the rear.
The UX offers all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Soul doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.
The UX 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 and moves the vehicle back into its lane. A system to reveal vehicles in the Soul’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the UX has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Alert, helping the driver avoid collisions. Kia charges extra for Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning on the Soul.
Compared to metal, the UX’s plastic fuel tank can withstand harder, more intrusive impacts without leaking; this decreases the possibility of fire. The Kia Soul has a metal gas tank.
The UX has standard Safety Connect®, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Soul doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.
Both the UX and the Soul 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, driver alert monitors and available rear parking sensors.
The Lexus UX weighs 485 to 717 pounds more than the Kia Soul. 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 Lexus UX is safer than the Kia Soul:
|
UX |
Soul |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
290 |
324 |
Chest Compression |
.7 inches |
2 inches |
Neck Injury Risk |
36% |
39% |
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 Lexus UX is safer than the Kia Soul:
|
UX |
Soul |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
52 |
142 |
Chest Movement |
.8 inches |
1 inches |
Abdominal Force |
149 lbs. |
259 lbs. |
Hip Force |
323 lbs. |
490 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
96 |
422 |
Spine Acceleration |
46 G’s |
73 G’s |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
3 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
12 inches |
13 inches |
HIC |
292 |
322 |
Spine Acceleration |
44 G’s |
46 G’s |
Hip Force |
919 lbs. |
1090 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The Lexus UX 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 Soul has not yet been fully evaluated by the IIHS for 2024.