For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Volvo XC40 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 Nissan Murano doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The XC40’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Murano doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
Both the XC40 and Murano have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The XC40 Ultra 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 Murano’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 XC40 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 Murano 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 XC40. But it costs extra on the Murano.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the XC40’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The Murano doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.
Both the XC40 and Murano have rear cross-traffic warning, but the XC40 has Braking Intervention (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Murano’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert doesn’t automatically brake.
Both the XC40 and the Murano have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, 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, driver alert monitors 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 XC40 is safer than the Nissan Murano:
|
XC40 |
Murano |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
200 |
342 |
Neck Stress |
209 lbs. |
223 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
25 lbs. |
34 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Chest Compression |
.5 inches |
.7 inches |
Neck Compression |
66 lbs. |
78 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 XC40 is safer than the Nissan Murano:
|
XC40 |
Murano |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
78 |
101 |
Chest Movement |
.9 inches |
.9 inches |
Hip Force |
320 lbs. |
392 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
119 |
148 |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
13 inches |
17 inches |
HIC |
237 |
439 |
Spine Acceleration |
33 G’s |
41 G’s |
Hip Force |
411 lbs. |
591 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
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 Volvo XC40 is safer than the Murano:
|
XC40 |
Murano |
Overall Evaluation |
ACCEPTABLE |
MARGINAL |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
129 |
286 |
Neck Tension |
312 lbs. |
402 lbs. |
Torso |
ACCEPTABLE |
ACCEPTABLE |
Shoulder Deflection |
1.46 in |
1.65 in |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.65 in |
1.69 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
9 MPH |
9 MPH |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Neck Compression |
89 lbs. |
112 lbs. |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |