For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Subaru Legacy 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 Hyundai Sonata doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The Legacy has standard Whiplash-Reducing Front Seats, which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Whiplash-Reducing Front Seats system allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Sonata doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
The Legacy has all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Sonata doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.
Both the Legacy and the Sonata have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, 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, available blind spot warning systems, rear parking sensors, rear cross-path warning and driver alert monitors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Subaru Legacy is safer than the Hyundai Sonata:
|
Legacy |
Sonata |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
158 |
514 |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
230/249 lbs. |
321/341 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 Subaru Legacy is safer than the Hyundai Sonata:
|
Legacy |
Sonata |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
50 |
163 |
Chest Movement |
.7 inches |
1 inches |
Abdominal Force |
216 lbs. |
305 lbs. |
Hip Force |
335 lbs. |
498 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
220 |
301 |
Spine Acceleration |
62 G’s |
72 G’s |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
14 inches |
20 inches |
HIC |
104 |
288 |
Spine Acceleration |
38 G’s |
38 G’s |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.