2005 Subaru Legacy

midsize car / 4-door sedan

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Evaluation criteria	Rating
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 2005-09 models

Tested vehicle: 2005 Subaru Legacy 2.5i Limited 4-door AWD

The Subaru Legacy was redesigned for the 2005 model year.

The frontal offset crash test ratings also apply to the station wagon version of the Legacy for the 2005-07 model years (the Legacy wagon was discontinued after 2007). However, the ratings do not apply to Outback models.

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 frontal offset 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 very well.

Smeared greasepaint indicates where the dummy's head hit the roof rail, grab handle, and sun visor during rebound. Head accelerations from these hits were low.

Intrusion into the footwell was minimal, and all leg and foot injury measures were low.

Technical measurements for this test

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CEF0415
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm)	2
Left (cm)	8
Center (cm)	8
Right (cm)	5
Brake pedal (cm)	1
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm)	0
Right (cm)	0
Steering column movement
Upward (cm)	4
Rearward (cm)	-2
A-pillar rearward movement (cm)	0

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CEF0415
Head
HIC-15	201
Peak gs at hard contact	25
Neck
Tension (kN)	1.2
Extension bending moment (Nm)	10
Maximum Nij	0.34
Chest maximum compression (mm)	35
Legs
Femur force - left (kN)	0.5
Femur force - right (kN)	1.4
Knee displacement - left (mm)	1
Knee displacement - right (mm)	2
Maximum tibia index - left	0.63
Maximum tibia index - right	0.63
Tibia axial force - left (kN)	3.4
Tibia axial force - right (kN)	3.3
Foot acceleration (g)
Left	143
Right	53

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2005 models

Tested vehicle: 2005 Subaru Legacy 2.5i Limited 4-door AWD with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Subaru Legacy was redesigned for the 2005 model year.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has evaluated the crashworthiness of the Legacy in two side-impact crashes. In the first test, the driver side curtain airbag deployed improperly, with the result that the driver dummy's head was hit by the impacting barrier. Subaru found that the side curtain airbag manufacturing facility had been assembling the airbags incorrectly. This led Subaru to correct the assembly process for the side curtain airbags on models produced after June 1, 2004. Also, Subaru initiated a safety recall to modify, at its cost, vehicles produced earlier. The Institute tested a second Legacy with the modified airbags, and the driver side curtain airbag inflated properly, preventing the driver dummy's head from being hit by the impacting barrier. Ratings of the Legacy are based on the results of the second test, except structural performance is based on both tests.

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

View of the vehicle and barrier just after the second of two crash tests.

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

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

Smeared greasepaint shows where the rear passenger dummy's head was protected by the side curtain airbag in the second crash test.

Technical measurements for this test

Test ID	CES0408	CES0411
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm)	-13.5	-9.0
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CES0411
Head HIC-15	360
Neck
Tension (kN)	1.6
Compression (kN)	0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm)	58
Lateral force (kN)	4.3
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm)	58
Average deflection (mm)	50
Maximum deflection rate (m/s)	6.19
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s)	1.50
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN)	2.5
Acetabulum force (kN)	3.7
Combined force (kN)	6.2
Left femur
L-M force (kN)	0.5
L-M moment (Nm)	160
A-P moment (Nm)	33

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CES0411
Head HIC-15	384
Neck
Tension (kN)	0.0
Compression (kN)	1.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm)	37
Lateral force (kN)	1.6
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm)	31
Average deflection (mm)	27
Maximum deflection rate (m/s)	3.44
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s)	0.45
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN)	0.9
Acetabulum force (kN)	2.3
Combined force (kN)	3.0
Left femur
L-M force (kN)	0.6
L-M moment (Nm)	85
A-P moment (Nm)	-65

About the original side crash test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: All seats AHR

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry

Technical measurements for this test

Seat type	All seats AHR
Geometry
Backset (mm)	50
Distance below top of head (mm)	58
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail	Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g)	10.4
Head contact time (ms)	67
Force rating	2
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N)	79
Max neck tension (N)	725

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