1998 Kia Sportage
small SUV / 4-door SUV
Moderate overlap front: original test
Rating applies to 1998-2002 models
Tested vehicle: 1998 Kia Sportage 4-door 4wd
The Kia Sportage was introduced in the 1995 model year. Frontal airbags for both the driver and passenger became standard beginning with the 1998 model year.
| Overall evaluation | |
|---|---|
| Structure and safety cage | |
| Driver injury measures | |
| Head/neck | |
| Chest | |
| Leg/foot, left | |
| Leg/foot, right | |
| Driver restraints and dummy kinematics Dummy movement wasn't well controlled. Special stitching on the lap belt, designed to limit belt forces by tearing and lengthening the belt, allowed too much dummy movement. During rebound from the airbag, the dummy moved toward the driver door. Its head went through the open window and nearly hit the window frame. There also was too much upward movement of the steering wheel. Later in the crash, the dummy's head again moved toward the door and hit the B-pillar. This was the first vehicle to be equipped with an airbag in the knee area, but it isn't clear whether the new airbag improved performance in this crash test. |
Action shot taken during the frontal offset crash test.
Buckling in the roof area indicates that the driver space was compromised.
The left front tire intruded into the driver footwell area, producing moderately high forces on the tibia and contributing to the possibility of lower leg and foot injuries.
Special lap belt stitching tore, allowing the belt to lengthen and the dummy to move too much.
Technical measurements for this test
Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side
| Test ID | CF98013 |
|---|---|
| Footwell intrusion | |
| Footrest (cm) | 28 |
| Left (cm) | 25 |
| Center (cm) | 18 |
| Right (cm) | 12 |
| Brake pedal (cm) | 14 |
| Instrument panel rearward movement | |
| Left (cm) | 0 |
| Right (cm) | 4 |
| Steering column movement | |
| Upward (cm) | 11 |
| Rearward (cm) | 3 |
| A-pillar rearward movement (cm) | 12 |
Driver injury measures
| Test ID | CF98013 |
|---|---|
| Head | |
| HIC-15 | 457 |
| Peak gs at hard contact | 40 |
| Neck | |
| Tension (kN) | 2.3 |
| Extension bending moment (Nm) | 28 |
| Maximum Nij | 0.56 |
| Chest maximum compression (mm) | 38 |
| Legs | |
| Femur force - left (kN) | 3.8 |
| Femur force - right (kN) | 2.4 |
| Knee displacement - left (mm) | 10 |
| Knee displacement - right (mm) | 11 |
| Maximum tibia index - left | 1.09 |
| Maximum tibia index - right | 0.58 |
| Tibia axial force - left (kN) | 7.1 |
| Tibia axial force - right (kN) | 3.0 |
| Foot acceleration (g) | |
| Left | 150 |
| Right | 107 |