Best Family SUV 2021: Safety
The top family SUVs have a high level of safety, but there are key differences when you dig into the detailFamily SUVs require more than just the typical safety inclusions seen in most other categories. Nowhere else are side curtain airbags that extend to the third row as vital, nor the flexibility and security of multiple child seat fixing points. Large SUVs typically transport the most important people in our lives, from a newborn’s trip home from hospital, to the friends and grandparents of our children and teenagers hitting the road for the first time by themselves, so the safety suite of these vehicles has to be the most advanced available.
Many safety features that not so long ago were exclusive to premium luxury vehicles are fitted as standard in the eight contenders for carsales’ Best Family SUV 2021.
Modern staples like autonomous emergency braking (AEB), forward collision warning (FCW), lane keeping assist (LKA), lane departure warning (LDW), electronic stability control (ESC), electronic brake assist (EBA), anti-lock braking system (ABS) and a reversing camera are all present and accounted for here, but there are a lot more safety inclusions.
All but the Hyundai Palisade carry a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating – the Palisade is still to be tested – but given that independent vehicle safety assessment has become more stringent in recent years (ANCAP standards were upgraded in 2017 and again in 2020), safety rating ‘date stamps’ are now a key consideration.
The Mazda CX-9 and Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace have the oldest ANCAP rating, each with a 2016 date stamp. The Skoda Kodiaq rating goes back to 2017 while the Hyundai Santa Fe and Mazda CX-8 were awarded five stars in 2018.
The most current ratings belong to the Kia Sorento (2020) and the freshly crash-tested Toyota Kluger (2021).
Driver assist safety features such as high-speed front and low-speed rear AEB, blind spot monitoring, fatigue monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, tyre pressure monitoring and LED headlights with auto high beam are standard in each of the vehicles on test here.
Also fitted to every model is a 360-degree bird’s eye camera system and both front and rear parking sensors.
Secondary collision mitigation, where the brakes are automatically applied after a crash so the vehicle doesn’t continue on to another collision, is included only in the Santa Fe, Sorento, Kodiaq and Tiguan Allspace.
Parents of young children will know that seven-seat wagons need particular safety items that can be a deal-breaker if they’re not included.
While all vehicles on test have at least three top-tether child seat anchorage points and two outboard ISOFIX points in the second row of seats, from there they differ.
The Palisade has two top-tether points in the third row and one ISOFIX point, while the Sorento’s third row features two top-tether and two ISOFIX points. None of the others offer child restraint points in the third row.
That said, the Santa Fe and Sorento are the only two models on test that do not have side curtain airbags that fully extend to the rearmost seats; they only protect the first and second rows.
All the SUVs here have front, front-side and side curtain airbags. Only the Sorento has an airbag in between the two front occupants, while the Kodiaq is exclusively fitted with side airbags for outboard passengers in the second row.
The Kodiaq, Kluger and Tiguan Allspace are the only ones on test to have a driver’s knee airbag.
The Palisade, Santa Fe and Sorento all have a safe exit warning that alerts occupants to the danger of traffic approaching from behind when opening any door.
Using door sensors and motion sensors, an alert will also sound if rear occupants are left in the car when the driver gets out of the Palisade, Santa Fe and Sorento.
Hyundai Palisade Highlander 2.2D AWD
ANCAP safety rating (year): Untested
AEB: Yes
Airbags/curtain extends to third row: 6/Yes
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
Child seat top-tether/ISOFIX number: 5/3
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/Yes
Parking sensors front/rear: Yes/Yes
Hyundai Santa Fe Highlander 2.2D AWD
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2018)
AEB: Yes
Airbags/curtain extends to third row: 6/No
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
Child seat top-tether/ISOFIX number: 3/2
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/Yes
Parking sensors front/rear: Yes/Yes
Kia Sorento GT-Line 2.2D AWD
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2020)
AEB: Yes
Airbags/curtain extends to third row: 7/No
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
Child seat top-tether/ISOFIX number: 5/4
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/Yes
Parking sensors front/rear: Yes/Yes
Mazda CX-8 Asaki 2.2D AWD
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2018)
AEB: Yes
Airbags/curtain extends to third row: 6/Yes
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
Child seat top-tether/ISOFIX number: 5/2
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/Yes
Parking sensors front/rear: Yes/Yes
Mazda CX-9 Azami 2.5T AWD
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2016)
AEB: Yes
Airbags/curtain extends to third row: 6/Yes
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
Child seat top-tether/ISOFIX number: 5/2
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/Yes
Parking sensors front/rear: Yes/Yes
Skoda Kodiaq RS 2.0 TDI AWD
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2017)
AEB: Yes
Airbags/curtain extends to third row: 9/Yes
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
Child seat top-tether/ISOFIX number: 3/2
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/Yes
Parking sensors front/rear: Yes/Yes
Toyota Kluger Hybrid Grande 2.5 AWD
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2021)
AEB: Yes
Airbags/curtain extends to third row: 7/Yes
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
Child seat top-tether/ISOFIX number: 3/2
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/Yes
Parking sensors front/rear: Yes/Yes
Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace Wolfsburg Edition 2.0T AWD
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2016)
AEB: Yes
Airbags/curtain extends to third row: 7/Yes
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
Child seat top-tether/ISOFIX number: 3/2
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/Yes
Parking sensors front/rear: Yes/Yes
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