2004 Kia Optima

midsize car / 4-door sedan

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
Head restraints & seats

Key

  • G
    Good
  • A
    Acceptable
  • M
    Marginal
  • P
    Poor
  • Superior
  • Advanced
  • Basic

Some ratings use a scale of Poor to Good. Others range from Basic to Superior.

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2001-06 models built before October 2005

Tested vehicle: 1999 Hyundai Sonata 4-door

The Hyundai Sonata was redesigned for the 1999 model year, and the Kia Optima was introduced in the 2001 model year. The Sonata was again redesigned for 2006, but the Kia Optima remained unchanged for the early part of the 2006 model year (2006 cars manufactured before October 2005). Therefore the ratings listed here also apply to early 2006 Optimas.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Leg/foot, left
Leg/foot, right
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics

Action shot taken during the frontal offset crash test.

Buckling of the roof rail and rearward movement of the instrument panel indicate the driver's survival space wasn't maintained well.

Footwell intrusion contributed to the possibility of injury to both legs.

At full vertical adjustment, the front head restraints are high enough and close enough to the back of the head for adequate geometry. However, in the Institute's rear end crash test, 2001 and later models received only a Poor rating.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CF99003
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 12
Left (cm) 23
Center (cm) 25
Right (cm) 22
Brake pedal (cm) 27
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 12
Right (cm) 10
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) -3
Rearward (cm) 9
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 10

Driver injury measures

Test ID CF99003
Head
HIC-15 275
Peak gs at hard contact 13
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.4
Extension bending moment (Nm) 11
Maximum Nij 0.32
Chest maximum compression (mm) 36
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 5.8
Femur force - right (kN) 3.0
Knee displacement - left (mm) 9
Knee displacement - right (mm) 3
Maximum tibia index - left 0.84
Maximum tibia index - right 1.10
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 1.5
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 6.9
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 82
Right 123

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2001-05 models built before October 2005

Tested vehicle: 2004 Hyundai Sonata GLS 4-door with standard front seat-mounted combination head and torso airbags

The Hyundai Sonata was redesigned for the 1999 model year, and the Kia Optima was introduced in the 2001 model year. The Sonata was again redesigned for 2006, but the Kia Optima remained unchanged for the early part of the 2006 model year (2006 cars manufactured before October 2005). Therefore the ratings listed here also apply to early 2006 Optimas.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Driver head protection
Rear passenger injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Rear passenger head protection
The dummy's head was hit by the pillar behind the rear passenger door and the window sill of the rear door. This pillar is required by federal standard to provide some protection for occupants' heads. The hit by the window sill did not produce high head injury measures, but the head protection is inadequate.

View of the vehicle and barrier just after the crash test.

View of the vehicle after the crash with doors removed, showing the side airbag and damage to the occupant compartment.

Action shot taken during the side impact crash test showing the driver dummy's head was protected from being hit by hard structures by the side airbag.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the rear passenger dummy's head was hit by the pillar behind the rear passenger door and the window sill of the rear door.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CES0317
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) 1.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID CES0317
Head HIC-15 484
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.3
Compression (kN) 0.1
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 44
Lateral force (kN) 1.8
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 57
Average deflection (mm) 39
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 6.98
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 1.90
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 4.7
Acetabulum force (kN) 3.8
Combined force (kN) 8.3
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.9
L-M moment (Nm) 92
A-P moment (Nm) 35

Passenger injury measures

Test ID CES0317
Head HIC-15 228
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.8
Compression (kN) 0.8
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 30
Lateral force (kN) 1.7
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 45
Average deflection (mm) 30
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 4.09
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.67
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.6
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.2
Combined force (kN) 2.7
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.8
L-M moment (Nm) 103
A-P moment (Nm) -44

About the original side crash test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Seats that adjust manually

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Seats that adjust manually
Geometry
Backset (mm) 68
Distance below top of head (mm) 68
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Fail
Max T1 acceleration (g) 13.3
Head contact time (ms) 87
Force rating 3
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 235
Max neck tension (N) 1,394

About the head restraint & seat test
Currently, IIHS tests apply only to front seats.