Best Family SUV 2022: Safety

The eight contenders for carsales’ Best Family SUV 2022 are all bristling with safety equipment when compared with their forebears of even just 10 years ago.

Safety has come a long way in a short time.

‘Active’ safety features, which refers to those things that help avoid a crash occurring, are well accounted for in all models on test here, with each of them including important systems such as autonomous emergency braking (AEB), forward collision warning (FCW), lane keeping assist (LKA), lane departure warning (LDW), electronic stability control (ESC), electronic brake assist (EBA), an anti-lock braking system (ABS) and a reversing camera.

As we’ll see, there are plenty more safety inclusions across the board here.

Importantly, the testing protocols of the key independent vehicle safety assessment authority in Australia, ANCAP, have evolved over the years, making it tougher to achieve a maximum five-star rating.

The requirements were changed in 2017, for example, and then again in 2020, making the safety rating ‘date stamps’ as important as the star rating itself.

A five-star rating from 2016 is not the same as one given in 2022.

Among the finalists for Best Family SUV 2022, not all of them have the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating. The outlier is the Hyundai Palisade, which received an inferior four stars earlier this year.

Of the remainder, the Mazda CX-9 and Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace have the oldest five-star ANCAP rating, with their crashworthiness assessment dating back to 2016. The Skoda Kodiaq’s rating goes back to 2017, while the Hyundai Santa Fe and Mazda CX-8 were tested in 2018.

The most recent five-star ratings were given to the Toyota Kluger (2021) and Kia Sorento (2020), so these are the only two models here to have a maximum rating under ANCAP’s current testing regime.

Happily, 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.

Front and rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera with guidelines are also fitted to each of our contenders.

But now let’s see where the differences lie.

The Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace is the only model on test to miss out on a standard 360-degree ‘bird’s eye view’ camera, with this feature having been relegated to an option pack.

Secondary collision mitigation, where the brakes are automatically applied after a crash so the vehicle doesn’t continue on to another collision, is also missing in four of our eight finalists – the Hyundai Palisade, the two Mazda SUVs and the Toyota Kluger.

That leaves the Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia Sorento, Skoda Kodiaq and VW Tiguan Allspace out in front in this department.

Infants and young children must be conveyed in the appropriate baby capsule or child seat/booster seat, and each family SUV here has the basics covered off in the second row by offering top-tether strap anchorage points (all three seats) and two ISOFIX points (outer seat positions).

But there is not quite as much coverage in the third row. The Hyundai Palisade adds two top-tether points in the third row plus one ISOFIX point, while the Kia Sorento’s third row has two top-tether and two ISOFIX points – making it the sole SUV among this cohort that’s able to carry five children in restraints.

Every family SUV represented here has front, front-side and head-protecting curtain airbags, however the Kodiaq is exclusively fitted with second-row side airbags that protect the pelvis and chest.

The Sorento and Santa Fe are the only ones to offer a centre-front airbag that’s designed prevent head-clash between the driver and front passenger, but on the flipside, the side curtain airbags on these two related family SUVs do not extend to the third row, unlike the six other models on test.

The Kodiaq, Kluger and Tiguan Allspace are also the only models here to have a driver’s knee airbag.

Just three of the family SUVs here have a safe exit warning that alerts occupants to the danger of traffic approaching from behind when opening any door. These are the three Korean-brand models: Palisade, Santa Fe and Sorento.

As a further safety benefit offered by these same three vehicles, an alert will also sound if the vehicle seat sensors register that rear occupants are left in the car when the driver exits.

Hyundai Palisade Highlander 2.2D
ANCAP safety rating (year): Four-star (2022)
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
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2018)
AEB: Yes
Airbags/curtain extends to third row: 7/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 HEV 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
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
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 Grande Hybrid
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 162TSI R-Line
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/No
Parking sensors front/rear: Yes/Yes