For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Porsche Taycan have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The MINI Cooper SE doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The Taycan’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Porsche Taycan are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The MINI Cooper SE doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Taycan has a standard Maneuvering Assist that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Taycan offers all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.
A passive infrared night vision system optional on the Taycan helps the driver to more easily detect people, animals or other objects in front of the vehicle at night. Using an infrared camera to detect heat, the system then displays the image on a monitor in the dashboard. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer a night vision system.
The Taycan offers an optional Surround View System to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Cooper SE only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.
The Taycan’s blind spot warning system uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer a system to reveal objects in the driver’s blind spots.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Taycan’s standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert uses sensors in the rear to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side and automatically engage the brakes. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.
Both the Taycan and the Cooper SE have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and driver alert monitors.
The Porsche Taycan weighs 1487 to 2049 pounds more than the MINI Cooper SE. The NHTSA advises that heavier cars are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts. Crosswinds also affect lighter cars more.