With its standard Front Assist, the Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport is better at preventing collisions with pedestrians than the Jeep Wrangler, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:
|
Atlas Cross Sport |
Wrangler |
Overall Evaluation |
ACCEPTABLE |
POOR |
|
Crossing Child - DAY |
|
12 MPH |
AVOIDED |
No Slowing |
25 MPH |
-10 MPH |
No Slowing |
|
Crossing Adult - NIGHT |
|
12 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
No Slowing |
12 MPH Low beams |
-10 MPH |
No Slowing |
25 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
No Slowing |
25 MPH Low beams |
-23 MPH |
No Slowing |
|
Parallel Adult - NIGHT |
|
25 MPH Brights |
-21 MPH |
No Slowing |
25 MPH Low beams |
-23 MPH |
No Slowing |
37 MPH Brights |
-28 MPH |
No Slowing |
Warning Issued-Brights |
2 sec |
No Warning |
37 MPH Low beams |
-2 MPH |
No Slowing |
Warning Issued-Low beams |
.6 sec |
No Warning |
The Atlas Cross Sport has a standard Automatic Post-Collision Braking System, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Wrangler 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 Atlas Cross Sport offers optional Maneuver Braking that use rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. The Wrangler doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Atlas Cross Sport’s lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. The Wrangler doesn’t offer a lane departure warning system.
The Atlas Cross Sport SEL Premium R-Line has a standard Area View to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Wrangler only offers a rear monitor and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the front or sides.
The Atlas Cross Sport 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 Wrangler’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Atlas Cross Sport has standard Rear Traffic Alert and automatically engage the brakes. Jeep charges extra for Rear Cross Path Detection on the Wrangler and the Wrangler’s Rear Cross Path Detection does not include automatic braking.
For better protection of the passenger compartment, the Atlas Cross Sport uses safety cell construction with a three-dimensional high-strength frame that surrounds the passenger compartment. It provides extra impact protection and a sturdy mounting location for door hardware and side impact beams. The Wrangler uses a body-on-frame design, which has no frame members above the floor of the vehicle.
Both the Atlas Cross Sport and the Wrangler have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, rearview cameras and available all wheel drive.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport is safer than the Jeep Wrangler:
|
Atlas Cross Sport |
Wrangler |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
Neck Injury Risk |
30% |
34.1% |
Neck Compression |
59 lbs. |
80 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
67/229 lbs. |
417/461 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
277 |
281 |
Neck Stress |
129 lbs. |
217 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
297/97 lbs. |
270/540 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport is safer than the Wrangler 4-door:
|
Atlas Cross Sport |
Wrangler |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
Restraints |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Head Neck Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Peak Head Forces |
0 G’s |
0 G’s |
Steering Column Movement Rearward |
0 cm |
3 cm |
Chest Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Max Chest Compression |
23 cm |
30 cm |
Hip & Thigh Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Femur Force R/L |
3.1/0 kN |
3.3/.6 kN |
Hip & Thigh Injury Risk R/L |
1%/0% |
1%/0% |
Lower Leg Evaluation |
GOOD |
POOR |
Tibia index R/L |
.46/.5 |
.92/.33 |
Tibia forces R/L |
2.1/.7 kN |
10.4/.9 kN |
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 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport is safer than the Wrangler 4-door:
|
Atlas Cross Sport |
Wrangler |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Structure |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Torso |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Torso Deflection Rate |
4 MPH |
6 MPH |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
163 |
189 |
Torso |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Pelvis Force |
848 lbs. |
915 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Instrumented handling tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analysis of its dimensions indicate that the Atlas Cross Sport, with its four-star roll-over rating, is 9.8% to 11.6% less likely to roll over than the Wrangler, which received a three-star rating.