2012 Mazda 6

midsize car / 4-door sedan

Crashworthiness

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

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 2009-13 models

Tested vehicle: 2012 Mazda 6i Touring 4-door

The Mazda 6 was redesigned for the 2009 model year.

Evaluation criteria	Rating

Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics The dummy’s head barely contacted the frontal airbag before sliding off the left side as the steering column moved 11 cm to the right, leaving the head vulnerable to contact with forward side structure. The side curtain airbag did not deploy, allowing the dummy’s head to hit the window sill and leaving it vulnerable to contact with outside objects.

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 reasonably well.

During the crash, the dummy's head barely contacted the frontal airbag before sliding off to the left as the steering column moved to the right. The side curtain airbag did not deploy, allowing the head to hit the window sill.

Except for door hinge pillar deformation, intrusion into the driver's space was reasonably well controlled, and risk of injuries to the dummy's legs and feet was low.

Technical measurements for this test

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CEN1220
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm)	16
Footrest (cm)	9
Left toepan (cm)	5
Brake pedal (cm)	4
Parking brake (cm)	0
Rocker panel lateral average (cm)	9
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column	0
Upper hinge pillar max (cm)	9
Upper dash (cm)	10
Lower instrument panel (cm)	11

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CEN1220
Head
HIC-15	148
Peak gs at hard contact	negligible
Neck
Tension (kN)	1.3
Extension bending moment (Nm)	16
Maximum Nij	0.37
Chest maximum compression (mm)	25
Femur (kN)
Left	2.8
Right	1.6
Knee displacement (mm)
Left	5
Right	0
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left	0
Right	0
Maximum tibia index
Left	0.59
Right	0.66
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left	1.4
Right	2.5
Foot acceleration (g)
Left	41
Right	48

About the small overlap front test

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2009-13 models

Tested vehicle: 2009 Mazda 6i Touring 4-door

The Mazda 6 was redesigned for the 2009 model year. Frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Mazda.

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

Technical measurements for this test

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	VTF0809
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm)	5
Left (cm)	7
Center (cm)	7
Right (cm)	7
Brake pedal (cm)	2
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm)	0
Right (cm)	0
Steering column movement
Upward (cm)	2
Rearward (cm)	-4
A-pillar rearward movement (cm)	0

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	VTF0809
Head
HIC-15	150
Peak gs at hard contact	24
Neck
Tension (kN)	1.1
Extension bending moment (Nm)	10
Maximum Nij	0.22
Chest maximum compression (mm)	28
Legs
Femur force - left (kN)	0.3
Femur force - right (kN)	3.1
Knee displacement - left (mm)	0
Knee displacement - right (mm)	0
Maximum tibia index - left	0.39
Maximum tibia index - right	1.08
Tibia axial force - left (kN)	2.0
Tibia axial force - right (kN)	4.3
Foot acceleration (g)
Left	71
Right	88

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2009-13 models

Tested vehicle: 2009 Mazda 6i Touring 4-door with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Mazda 6 was redesigned for the 2009 model year.

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 crash test.

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

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

Test ID	CES0926
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm)	-13.0
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CES0926
Head HIC-15	391
Neck
Tension (kN)	0.9
Compression (kN)	0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm)	35
Lateral force (kN)	1.5
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm)	27
Average deflection (mm)	25
Maximum deflection rate (m/s)	3.01
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s)	0.29
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN)	3.8
Acetabulum force (kN)	1.3
Combined force (kN)	4.7
Left femur
L-M force (kN)	0.5
L-M moment (Nm)	71
A-P moment (Nm)	39

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CES0926
Head HIC-15	203
Neck
Tension (kN)	0.3
Compression (kN)	0.7
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm)	30
Lateral force (kN)	1.1
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm)	38
Average deflection (mm)	29
Maximum deflection rate (m/s)	2.84
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s)	0.42
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN)	1.1
Acetabulum force (kN)	2.0
Combined force (kN)	2.8
Left femur
L-M force (kN)	0.6
L-M moment (Nm)	155
A-P moment (Nm)	-32

About the original side crash test

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2009-13 models

Tested vehicle: 2009 Mazda 6i Touring 4-door

Overall evaluation
Curb weight	3,321 lbs
Peak force	11,789 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio	3.55

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)	54
Distance below top of head (mm)	19
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail	Fail
Max T1 acceleration (g)	11.7
Head contact time (ms)	98
Force rating	2
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N)	139
Max neck tension (N)	561

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