For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross 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 Kicks doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The Eclipse Cross has all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Kicks doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.
Both the Eclipse Cross and the Kicks 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, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems, around view monitors and rear cross-path warning.
The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross weighs 655 to 798 pounds more than the Nissan Kicks. 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 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross is safer than the Nissan Kicks:
|
Eclipse Cross |
Kicks |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
184/324 lbs. |
343/312 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
3 Stars |
HIC |
215 |
326 |
Neck Injury Risk |
39.7% |
79% |
Neck Stress |
182 lbs. |
392 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
55 lbs. |
138 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
331/198 lbs. |
370/209 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, results indicate that the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross is safer than the Nissan Kicks:
|
Eclipse Cross |
Kicks |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Chest Movement |
.5 inches |
.9 inches |
Abdominal Force |
154 lbs. |
172 lbs. |
Hip Force |
292 lbs. |
347 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
162 |
318 |
Hip Force |
464 lbs. |
517 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.