For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Volvo XC90 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 Cadillac XT5 doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
Both the XC90 and XT5 have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The XC90 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 XT5’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 Volvo XC90 offers an optional built in child booster seat. It’s more crash worthy than an added child seat because of its direct attachment to the seat. Cadillac doesn’t offer the convenience and security of a built-in child booster seat in the XT5. Their owners must carry a heavy booster seat in and out of the vehicle; XC90 owners can just fold their built-in child seat up or down.
Using vehicle speed sensors and seat sensors, smart airbags in the XC90 deploy with different levels of force or don’t deploy at all to help better protect passengers of all sizes in different collisions. The XC90’s side airbags will shut off if a child is leaning against the door. The XT5’s side airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.
The XC90 has a standard Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS), which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the WHIPS allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. At the same time the pretensioning seatbelts fire, removing slack from the belts. The XT5 doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
The XC90 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 XT5 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 XC90. But it costs extra on the XT5.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the XC90’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The XT5 doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.
The XC90 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. Only the XT5 Premium Luxury/Sport offers a blind spot warning system.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the XC90 has standard Cross Traffic Alert and Braking Intervention automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Only the XT5 Premium Luxury/Sport offers Rear Cross Traffic Alert and the XT5’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert does not include automatic braking.
The XC90’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The XT5 doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the XC90 and the XT5 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, rearview cameras 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 XC90 is safer than the Cadillac XT5:
|
|
XC90 |
XT5 |
|
|
Passenger |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| HIC |
217 |
287 |
| Chest Compression |
.4 inches |
.6 inches |
| Neck Injury Risk |
31% |
37% |
| Neck Compression |
25 lbs. |
53 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 XC90 is safer than the Cadillac XT5:
|
|
XC90 |
XT5 |
|
|
Front Seat |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| HIC |
51 |
112 |
| Chest Movement |
.7 inches |
.9 inches |
|
|
Rear Seat |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| HIC |
94 |
183 |
| Spine Acceleration |
40 G’s |
43 G’s |
| Hip Force |
608 lbs. |
825 lbs. |
|
|
Into Pole |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| Max Damage Depth |
12 inches |
12 inches |
| HIC |
209 |
399 |
| Spine Acceleration |
29 G’s |
39 G’s |
| Hip Force |
383 lbs. |
799 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The Volvo XC90 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 XT5 is not even a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2024.