Best Off-Road SUV 2022: Safety

It took a long time for safety to sell cars; it seemed as if only a few brands such as Volvo were much interested in the safety sell.

Now all car-makers push the safety barrow, building in many active and passive safety features into their vehicles.

And yet, even in this segment of ostensibly family off-road wagons, there are still several models lining up for Best Off-Road SUV 2022 that suffer a safety shortfall.

This is a very diverse crew where safety is concerned.

All 12 SUVs in this mega-test cover off the basket of safety features expected in all passenger vehicles, such as ABS brakes, stability control and several airbags.

They each also have, as a minimum, low-speed autonomous emergency braking (AEB) and forward collision warning (FCW).

For towing, all have the safety net of trailer sway control, except the LDV D90 Executive and Nissan Patrol Ti.

As big SUVs, these wagons are not always easy to manoeuvre in the urban jungle, so thankfully a reversing camera is standard in all of them.

However, increasingly popular driver assist safety systems such as blind spot monitoring, driver fatigue monitoring, lane departure warning, lane keep assist and even tyre pressure monitoring are not standard across the board.

Crash safety ratings have long been a clear and simple way for consumers to establish how safe a car is. From a zero-star rating to a maximum five-star rating, it would seem pretty obvious which vehicles are safer than others.

Yet that is not always the case.

The problem is that independent vehicle safety assessment has become more stringent in recent years – ANCAP standards were upgraded in 2017 and again in 2020 – so the date a vehicle is crash tested becomes important. ‘Five stars’ means a different thing according to how long ago the vehicle was tested.

Of the vehicles on test here that have achieved a five-star ANCAP result, the Toyota Prado has the oldest rating, dating back to 2011.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee has a 2014 rating, while the Ford Everest and Mitsubishi Pajero Sport were tested in 2015. The LDV D90 has a result dating back to 2017, while the Toyota Fortuner was tested in 2019.

Both the Isuzu MU-X and the Land Rover Defender 110 have a 2020 score, based on the latest testing criteria, while the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series achieved the most recent five-star result, published this year.

While the Jeep Wrangler was ANCAP crash-tested in 2019, its scored just three stars.

The Nissan Patrol and the SsangYong Rexton have not been tested by ANCAP and therefore have no local independent crash test results.

The Wrangler has by far the lowest airbag count, with just four (dual front and front side) airbags.

Of the rest of the group, all have side curtain airbags and all but the Land Rover, LDV and Nissan have a driver’s knee airbag. The Isuzu also has a centre front airbag, the LandCruiser a front passenger knee airbag, while the Rexton is the only one here with side airbags for outboard occupants in the second row.

Radar or camera-based active driver assist systems have mushroomed in recent years, however their application in this group is not by any means consistent.

Only low-speed AEB is offered in the Everest, Wrangler, D90, Pajero Sport, Patrol and Rexton. The rest have high-speed AEB, while all are offered with forward collision warning.

Lane departure warning is fitted in all but the Wrangler, Grand Cherokee and Pajero Sport. As for the further assurance of lane keeping assist, it’s not only the Wrangler, Grand Cherokee and Pajero that again miss out, but also the D90 and Rexton.

Blind spot monitoring is not offered on Everest, Grand Cherokee, Pajero Sport or LandCruiser 300. A more sophisticated blind spot collision avoidance system is also a feature on the Defender and Patrol.

Rear cross traffic alert and automatic braking is not provided for the Everest, Grand Cherokee, D90, Pajero Sport or LandCruiser 300.

The MU-X, Wrangler, Defender, Patrol, Rexton, Fortuner and Prado all have cross traffic alert, with the Defender also equipped with the linked auto rear braking system.

All of these SUVs have a reversing camera, but there are no parking sensors front or rear for the Prado and LandCruiser 300.

The rest have front and rear parking sensors, except for the rear-only Everest, MU-X and Pajero Sport.

Secondary collision mitigation is only fitted to the MU-X, which is also the only one here fitted with ‘misacceleration’ mitigation.

The Defender is unique in this group in offering a wade sensing warning and side door exit warning.

Only five of the contenders miss out on speed sign recognition. They are the Wrangler, Grand Cherokee, Pajero Sport, Patrol and Rexton.

LED headlights are fitted to all but the Everest, Grand Cherokee and Prado. The Grand Cherokee does have bi-Xenon headlights, while the other two have halogen lamps.

At this trim level, you don’t get fog lights with the Everest, MU-X, Grand Cherokee, Fortuner or LandCruiser 300.

The Pajero Sport and Patrol have front fog lamps only, while the Defender and Prado have rear-only fog lights. The Wrangler, D90 and Rexton have fog lights both front and rear.

Tyre low pressure warning is standard equipment on exactly half the field – that is, the Wrangler, Grand Cherokee, Defender, D90, Patrol and Rexton.

Ford Everest Ambiente 3.2D 4x4
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2015)
AEB: Yes (city)
Airbags/driver’s knee/centre front: 7/Yes/No
Blind spot monitoring: No
Forward collision warning: Yes
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: No
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/No
Parking sensors front/rear: No/Yes

Isuzu MU-X LS-M 3.0D 4x4
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2020)
AEB: Yes (high-speed)
Airbags/driver’s knee/centre front: 8/Yes/Yes
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/No
Parking sensors front/rear: No/Yes

Jeep Grand Cherokee Night Eagle 3.6P
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2014)
AEB: Yes (high-speed)
Airbags/driver’s knee/centre front: 7/Yes/No
Blind spot monitoring: No
Forward collision warning: Yes
Lane departure warning: No
Lane keep assist: No
Rear cross traffic alert: No
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/No
Parking sensors front/rear: Yes/Yes

Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Night Eagle 3.6P
ANCAP safety rating (year): Three-star (2019)
AEB: Yes (city)
Airbags/driver’s knee/centre front: 4/No/No
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
Lane departure warning: No
Lane keep assist: No
Rear cross traffic alert: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/No
Parking sensors front/rear: Yes/Yes

Land Rover Defender P300 110 2.0P
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2020)
AEB: Yes (high-speed)
Airbags/driver’s knee/centre front: 6/No/No
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
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

LDV D90 Executive 2.0P 4x4
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2017)
AEB: Yes (city)
Airbags/driver’s knee/centre front: 6/No/No
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: No
Rear cross traffic alert: No
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/No
Parking sensors front/rear: Yes/Yes

Mitsubishi Pajero Sport GLX 2.4D 4x4
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2015)
AEB: Yes (city)
Airbags/driver’s knee/centre front: 7/Yes/No
Blind spot monitoring: No
Forward collision warning: Yes
Lane departure warning: No
Lane keep assist: No
Rear cross traffic alert: No
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/No
Parking sensors front/rear: No/Yes

Nissan Patrol Ti 5.6P
ANCAP safety rating (year): None
AEB: Yes (city)
Airbags/driver’s knee/centre front: 6/No/No
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
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

SsangYong Rexton ELX 2.2D
ANCAP safety rating (year): None
AEB: Yes (city)
Airbags/driver’s knee/centre front: 9/Yes/No
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: No
Rear cross traffic alert: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/No
Parking sensors front/rear: Yes/Yes

Toyota Fortuner 2.8D GX
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2019)
AEB: Yes (high-speed)
Airbags/driver’s knee/centre front: 7/Yes/No
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
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

Toyota LandCruiser GX 3.3D
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2020)
AEB: Yes (high-speed)
Airbags/driver’s knee/centre front: 8/Yes/No
Blind spot monitoring: No
Forward collision warning: Yes
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: No
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/No
Parking sensors front/rear: No/No

Toyota Prado GX 2.8D
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2011)
AEB: Yes (high-speed)
Airbags/driver’s knee/centre front: 7/Yes/No
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/No
Parking sensors front/rear: No/No