Best Small SUV 2021: Safety
Buying a small SUV shouldn’t require compromising safety, but not all models in this class are created equalThere was a significant uptick in legislated safety requirements a decade ago when electronic stability control was mandated for all new passenger vehicles sold in Australia. Since then, not only have active safety aids of all new vehicles compounded, but the crashworthiness of vehicle structures has made steady gains too. The upshot is that not only are all the small SUVs on test here more crashworthy than ever, but they also offer far better active safety tech to help avoid a collision too.
There are no small SUVs here in our mega-test that fail to offer an anti-lock braking system (ABS), electronic stability control (ESC), electronic brake assist (EBA), lane departure warning (LDW), lane keep assist (LKA), forward collision warning (FCW), autonomous emergency braking (AEB) or LED headlights as standard.
Yet there are important differences beyond these safety staples and the biggest variation is in the crash safety ratings from the independent Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP).
It is not a level playing field due to the increased ANCAP requirements to achieve five stars, first in 2017 and again in 2020.
Some of these small SUVs have not actually been physically tested themselves, instead relying on the crash test results of a similar model in the range.
While it has a promising safety suite, the Toyota Yaris Cross has not yet been tested by ANCAP. Meanwhile, of those that do have an ANCAP safety rating, the MG ZST is the lowest rated at four stars (in 2017).
All the rest are five-star rated, with the earliest rating (and therefore less stringent) belonging to the Mazda CX-3 (2015). Then there’s the Hyundai Kona, Kia Stonic, Nissan QASHQAI, Toyota C-HR and Volkswagen T-Roc, all of which were rated against criteria set in 2017.
The latest and therefore best five-star ratings belong to the Ford Puma, Mazda CX-30, Skoda Kamiq and Volkswagen T-Cross (2019).
The Kia Stonic has not been physically crash-tested; instead its five-star rating is based on the 2017 ANCAP result achieved by the Kia Rio, with which it shares its platform.
As for the rest of their safety equipment – as we’ve found with comfort, convenience and technology features – there’s some common ground and also many differences with these SUVs.
All have a minimum of six airbags – front, side and side curtain, augmented by a driver’s knee airbag in the CX-30, Kamiq, C-HR and Yaris Cross. The latter is the only vehicle here to also have a front centre airbag designed to prevent the front occupants’ heads from clashing in a side impact.
While all have a reversing camera and audible rear parking sensors, the Puma, Kona, Stonic, Kamiq, T-Cross and T-Roc lack a 360-degree camera. It’s standard on the others.
Front parking sensors are only standard on the Kona, CX-3, CX-30, QASHQAI, C-HR, Yaris Cross, T-Cross and T-Roc.
Rear cross traffic alert is standard equipment on all except Puma, Stonic and Kamiq.
And all but the Stonic, C-HR and Yaris Cross are equipped with a tyre pressure monitoring system.
Ford Puma ST-Line V
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2019)
AEB: Yes
Airbags/driver knee/centre front: 6/No/No
Blind spot monitoring: Opt
Forward collision warning: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/No
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: Opt
Parking sensors front/rear: No/Yes
Hyundai Kona 2.0 Highlander
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2017)
AEB: Yes
Airbags/driver knee/centre front: 6/No/No
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/No
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: Yes
Parking sensors front/rear: Yes/Yes
Kia Stonic GT-Line
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2017)
AEB: Yes
Airbags/driver knee/centre front: 6/No/No
Blind spot monitoring: No
Forward collision warning: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/No
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: No
Parking sensors front/rear: Yes/Yes
Mazda CX-3 2.0 Akari LE AWD
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2015)
AEB: Yes
Airbags/driver knee/centre front: 6/No/No
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/Yes
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: Yes
Parking sensors front/rear: Yes/Yes
Mazda CX-30 G20 Astina FWD
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2019)
AEB: Yes
Airbags/driver knee/centre front: 7/Yes/No
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/Yes
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: Yes
Parking sensors front/rear: Yes/Yes
MG ZST Essence
ANCAP safety rating (year): Four-star (2017)
AEB: Yes
Airbags/driver knee/centre front: 6/No/No
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/Yes
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: Yes
Parking sensors front/rear: No/Yes
Nissan QASHQAI Ti
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2017)
AEB: Yes
Airbags/driver knee/centre front: 6/No/No
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/Yes
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: Yes
Parking sensors front/rear: Yes/Yes
Skoda Kamiq 110TSI Monte Carlo
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2019)
AEB: Yes
Airbags/driver knee/centre front: 7/Yes/No
Blind spot monitoring: No (opt)
Forward collision warning: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/No
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: No
Parking sensors front/rear: No/Yes
Toyota C-HR 1.2 Koba AWD
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2017)
AEB: Yes
Airbags/driver knee/centre front: 7/Yes/No
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/Yes
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: Yes
Parking sensors front/rear: Yes/Yes
Toyota Yaris Cross 1.5 Urban AWD
ANCAP safety rating (year): Not tested
AEB: Yes
Airbags/driver knee/centre front: 8/Yes/Yes
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/Yes
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: Yes
Parking sensors front/rear: Yes/Yes
Volkswagen T-Cross 85TSI Style
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2019)
AEB: Yes
Airbags/driver knee/centre front: 6/No/No
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/No
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: Yes
Parking sensors front/rear: Yes/Yes
Volkswagen T-Roc 110TSI Style
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2017)
AEB: Yes
Airbags/driver knee/centre front: 6/No/No
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/No
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: Yes
Parking sensors front/rear: Yes/Yes
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