Top Safety Pick +Top Safety Pick criteria

2016 Nissan Sentra

small car / 4-door sedan

Award applies only to vehicles with optional front crash prevention

2016 Nissan Sentra 4-door sedan

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Small overlap front: driver-side
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
Roof strength
Head restraints & seats

Crash avoidance & mitigation

Headlights
Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle
Optional system
Superior

Seat belts & child restraints

LATCH ease of use

Other available safety features

  • Optional blind spot detection

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.

Small overlap front: driver-side

Rating applies to 2015-19 models

Tested vehicle: 2015 Nissan Sentra SV 4-door

The Nissan Sentra was redesigned for the 2013 model year. Beginning with 2015 models, the front-end structure as well as the A-pillar and door sill were modified to improve occupant protection in small overlap frontal crashes. Also, the side curtain airbags were lengthened.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics

Action shot taken during the small overlap frontal crash test.

The dummy's position in relation to the door frame, steering wheel, and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space was maintained well.

The frontal and side curtain airbags worked well together to keep the head from coming close to any stiff structure or outside objects that could cause injury.

The driver's space was maintained well, and risk of injuries to the dummy's legs and feet was low.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEN1505
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 12
Footrest (cm) 8
Left toepan (cm) 2
Brake pedal (cm) 3
Parking brake (cm)
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 3
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column 0
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 3
Upper dash (cm) 7
Lower instrument panel (cm) 9

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEN1505
Head
HIC-15 131
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.3
Extension bending moment (Nm) 11
Maximum Nij 0.23
Chest maximum compression (mm) 24
Femur (kN)
Left 1.0
Right 0.1
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 0
Right 2
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 0
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.66
Right 0.53
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 1.5
Right 0.5
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 38
Right 40

About the small overlap front test

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2013-19 models

Tested vehicle: 2013 Nissan Sentra SV 4-door

The Nissan Sentra was redesigned for the 2013 model year. Moderate overlap frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Nissan.

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

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTF1210
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 8
Left (cm) 10
Center (cm) 9
Right (cm) 9
Brake pedal (cm) 10
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 4
Right (cm) 2
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 2
Rearward (cm) 0
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 3

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTF1210
Head
HIC-15 127
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.1
Extension bending moment (Nm) 18
Maximum Nij 0.23
Chest maximum compression (mm) 25
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 0.6
Femur force - right (kN) 1.1
Knee displacement - left (mm) 0
Knee displacement - right (mm) 10
Maximum tibia index - left 0.44
Maximum tibia index - right 0.37
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 1.5
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 1.7
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 73
Right 52

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2013-19 models

Tested vehicle: 2013 Nissan Sentra FE/SV 4-door with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Nissan Sentra was redesigned for the 2013 model year.

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 crash test.

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

Smeared greasepaint shows where 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 airbag.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CES1304
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.

Driver injury measures

Test ID CES1304
Head HIC-15 251
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.9
Compression (kN) 0.4
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 32
Lateral force (kN) 1.3
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 35
Average deflection (mm) 33
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 2.98
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.49
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 3.7
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.1
Combined force (kN) 5.8
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 1.0
L-M moment (Nm) 181
A-P moment (Nm) 43

Passenger injury measures

Test ID CES1304
Head HIC-15 123
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.5
Compression (kN) 0.4
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 31
Lateral force (kN) 1.6
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 26
Average deflection (mm) 18
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.69
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.30
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 1.1
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.5
Combined force (kN) 3.3
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 1.1
L-M moment (Nm) 122
A-P moment (Nm) 30

About the original side crash test

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2013-19 models

Tested vehicle: 2013 Nissan Sentra S 4-door

Overall evaluation
Curb weight2,826 lbs
Peak force14,893 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio5.27

About the roof strength test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Manual cloth seats

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Manual cloth seats
Geometry
Backset (mm) 18
Distance below top of head (mm) 48
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 12.7
Head contact time (ms) 54
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 0
Max neck tension (N) 399

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

Headlights

Ratings are given for 2 different headlight variations available on this vehicle.

Trim level(s)

  • SR trim
  • SR Turbo trim
  • SL trim
Low-beam headlight typeLED projector
High-beam headlight typeHalogen reflector
Curve-adaptive?No
High-beam assist?No
Overall rating
Distance at which headlights provide at least 5 lux illumination:
car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler 0 ft 100 ft 200 ft 300 ft 400 ft 500 ft 600 ft Low beams Optimal low-beam illumination High beams Optimal high-beam illumination

Low beams
On the straightaway, visibility was fair on the right side of the road and inadequate on the left side. On curves, visibility was inadequate in all 4 tests.

The low beams never exceeded glare limits.

High beams
On the straightaway, visibility was fair on the right side of the road and inadequate on the left side. On curves, visibility was inadequate in all 4 tests.

Technical measurements for this test
Trim level(s)
  • SR trim
  • SR Turbo trim
  • SL trim
Low-beam headlight type LED projector
High-beam headlight type Halogen reflector
Curve-adaptive? No
High-beam assist? No
Overall rating
Applies to 2016-17 models
LOW BEAMS Average minimum useful
illumination distance (5 lux)		 Amount glare
exceeded threshold
Straightaway right edge 84.0 m None
Straightaway left edge 32.8 m None
250m radius right curve, right edge 39.8 m None
250m radius left curve, left edge 34.4 m None
150m radius right curve, right edge 35.3 m None
150m radius left curve, left edge 31.0 m None
HIGH BEAMS Average minimum useful
illumination distance (5 lux)
Straightaway right edge 140.3 m
Straightaway left edge 104.1 m
250m radius right curve, right edge 56.8 m
250m radius left curve, left edge 55.2 m
150m radius right curve, right edge 47.2 m
150m radius left curve, left edge 44.0 m

Trim level(s)

  • S trim
  • FE+S trim
  • SV trim
Low-beam headlight typeHalogen reflector
High-beam headlight typeHalogen reflector
Curve-adaptive?No
High-beam assist?No
Overall rating
Distance at which headlights provide at least 5 lux illumination:
car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler 0 ft 100 ft 200 ft 300 ft 400 ft 500 ft 600 ft Low beams Optimal low-beam illumination High beams Optimal high-beam illumination

Low beams
On the straightaway, visibility was inadequate on both sides of the road. On curves, visibility was inadequate in all 4 tests.

The low beams never exceeded glare limits.

High beams
On the straightaway, visibility was inadequate on both sides of the road. On curves, visibility was inadequate in all 4 tests.

Technical measurements for this test
Trim level(s)
  • S trim
  • FE+S trim
  • SV trim
Low-beam headlight type Halogen reflector
High-beam headlight type Halogen reflector
Curve-adaptive? No
High-beam assist? No
Overall rating
Applies to 2016-19 models
LOW BEAMS Average minimum useful
illumination distance (5 lux)		 Amount glare
exceeded threshold
Straightaway right edge 46.4 m None
Straightaway left edge 29.0 m None
250m radius right curve, right edge 36.3 m None
250m radius left curve, left edge 33.1 m None
150m radius right curve, right edge 33.1 m None
150m radius left curve, left edge 30.7 m None
HIGH BEAMS Average minimum useful
illumination distance (5 lux)
Straightaway right edge 126.7 m
Straightaway left edge 107.3 m
250m radius right curve, right edge 56.4 m
250m radius left curve, left edge 58.4 m
150m radius right curve, right edge 43.8 m
150m radius left curve, left edge 46.7 m

About the headlight evaluation

Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle

System details

  • Optional Forward Emergency Braking

Package name

  • Optional Technology Package

Overall evaluation

Applies to 2016-17 models

Superior
Superior
with optional equipment
  • This system meets the requirements for forward collision warning.
  • In the 12 mph test, this vehicle avoided a collision.
  • In the 25 mph test, impact speed was reduced by 10 mph.

About the original front crash prevention test

Child seat anchors

Rating applies to 2014-17 models

Overall evaluation
Vehicle trimSV
Seat type cloth

This vehicle has 2 rear seating positions with complete child seat attachment (LATCH) hardware.

It has 1 additional seating position with a tether anchor only.

Overall evaluation
Vehicle trimSV
Seat type cloth
1 2 3
GGood
AAcceptable
MMarginal
PPoor
Seating positions that rely on borrowed lower anchors or have only a tether anchor available are not rated.
thether anchor symbol
Tether anchor
lower anchor symbol
Lower anchors
shared lower achors symbol
Lower anchor(s) can be borrowed from adjacent positions(s)
No hardware available

Details by seating position

1
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
no other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
too deep in seat
not too much force needed to attach
easy to maneuver around anchors
2
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
no other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
none available
3
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
no other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
too deep in seat
not too much force needed to attach
difficult to maneuver around anchors
Technical measurements for this test

Seat position 21

3

Lower anchor A
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 4-6
Force (lbs) 17
Clearance angle (degrees) 43
Lower anchor B
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 4-6
Force (lbs) 19
Clearance angle (degrees) 53
Tether anchor
Location Rear deck
Confusing hardware present No
Has contrasting label
within 3 inches of tether anchor		 No
Tether anchors can be accessed
while seatback is properly positioned
for use of LATCH		 Not measured

Seat position 22

2

Lower anchor A
No lower latch for this seat position
Lower anchor B
No lower latch for this seat position
Tether anchor
Location Rear deck
Confusing hardware present No
Has contrasting label
within 3 inches of tether anchor		 No
Tether anchors can be accessed
while seatback is properly positioned
for use of LATCH		 Not measured

Seat position 23

1

Lower anchor A
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 4-6
Force (lbs) 20
Clearance angle (degrees) 55
Lower anchor B
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 4-6
Force (lbs) 22
Clearance angle (degrees) 56
Tether anchor
Location Rear deck
Confusing hardware present No
Has contrasting label
within 3 inches of tether anchor		 No
Tether anchors can be accessed
while seatback is properly positioned
for use of LATCH		 Not measured

About the child seat anchor evaluation