2012 Nissan Altima

midsize car / 4-door sedan

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Evaluation criteria	Rating
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
Roof strength
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 2007-12 models

Tested vehicle: 2007 Nissan Altima 2.5 S 4-door

The Nissan Altima was redesigned for the 2007 model year. Two moderate overlap frontal tests of the Altima were conducted, one by the Institute and the other by Nissan. Ratings are based on both tests.

Evaluation criteria	Rating
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 Institute's moderate overlap frontal crash test.

The dummy's position in relation to the steering wheel and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space was maintained well (Institute test car shown).

Smeared greasepaint indicates where the dummy's head brushed the side curtain airbag and dislodged headliner. This airbag did not deploy in the test conducted by Nissan.

Intrusion into the driver's space was minimal in both tests, and all leg and foot injury measures were low.

Technical measurements for this test

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	VTF0616	CEF0703
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm)	5	4
Left (cm)	8	7
Center (cm)	7	4
Right (cm)	14	7
Brake pedal (cm)	7	3
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm)	1	2
Right (cm)	1	2
Steering column movement
Upward (cm)	1	-4
Rearward (cm)	3	1
A-pillar rearward movement (cm)	0	0

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	VTF0616	CEF0703
Head
HIC-15	205	160
Peak gs at hard contact	27	no contact
Neck
Tension (kN)	1.0	0.8
Extension bending moment (Nm)	10	27
Maximum Nij	0.27	0.29
Chest maximum compression (mm)	29	29
Legs
Femur force - left (kN)	1.3	0.4
Femur force - right (kN)	1.0	1.9
Knee displacement - left (mm)	1	0
Knee displacement - right (mm)	0	1
Maximum tibia index - left	0.28	0.40
Maximum tibia index - right	0.40	0.30
Tibia axial force - left (kN)	2.0	2.2
Tibia axial force - right (kN)	1.6	1.8
Foot acceleration (g)
Left	47	58
Right	44	53

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2010-12 models

Tested vehicle: 2009 Nissan Altima S 4-door with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Nissan Altima was redesigned for the 2007 model year. Beginning with 2010 models, the body side structure was modified to improve occupant protection in side impact crashes. Side ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Nissan. The car tested was a 2009 model fitted with the improved body side structure and was representative of production 2010 models.

Evaluation criteria	Rating
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

Technical measurements for this test

Test ID	VTS0906
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm)	-7.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	VTS0906
Head HIC-15	295
Neck
Tension (kN)	1.0
Compression (kN)	0.1
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm)	46
Lateral force (kN)	1.7
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm)	46
Average deflection (mm)	40
Maximum deflection rate (m/s)	6.40
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s)	0.85
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN)	1.6
Acetabulum force (kN)	1.8
Combined force (kN)	3.3
Left femur
L-M force (kN)	2.4
L-M moment (Nm)	50
A-P moment (Nm)	269

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	VTS0906
Head HIC-15	299
Neck
Tension (kN)	0.7
Compression (kN)	0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm)	27
Lateral force (kN)	1.3
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm)	38
Average deflection (mm)	32
Maximum deflection rate (m/s)	2.90
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s)	0.44
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN)	0.4
Acetabulum force (kN)	2.1
Combined force (kN)	2.3
Left femur
L-M force (kN)	0.6
L-M moment (Nm)	45
A-P moment (Nm)	114

About the original side crash test

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2007-12 models

Tested vehicle: 2009 Nissan Altima 2.5 S 4-door

Overall evaluation
Curb weight	3,196 lbs
Peak force	12,111 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio	3.79

About the roof strength test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Manual cloth seats AHR

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry

Technical measurements for this test

Seat type	Manual cloth seats AHR
Geometry
Backset (mm)	45
Distance below top of head (mm)	39
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail	Fail
Max T1 acceleration (g)	10.3
Head contact time (ms)	88
Force rating	1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N)	112
Max neck tension (N)	488

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