Top Safety PickTop Safety Pick criteria

2020 Nissan Altima

midsize car / 4-door sedan

Award applies only to vehicles with optional front crash prevention and specific headlights

2020 Nissan Altima 4-door sedan
2019 Nissan Altima shown

Crashworthiness

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

Crash avoidance & mitigation

Headlights (varies by trim/option)
Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle
Standard system
Superior
Optional system
Superior
Front crash prevention: pedestrian (day)
Optional system
Advanced

Seat belts & child restraints

LATCH ease of use

Other available safety features

  • Optional blind spot detection
  • Optional lane departure warning
  • Optional lane departure prevention

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 2019-25 models

Tested vehicle: 2019 Nissan Altima 2.5 S 4-door

The Nissan Altima was redesigned for the 2019 model year. Driver-side small 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
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTN1816
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 15
Footrest (cm) 7
Left toepan (cm) 3
Brake pedal (cm) 1
Parking brake (cm) 19
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 5
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column 4
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 8
Upper dash (cm) 8
Lower instrument panel (cm) 8

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTN1816
Head
HIC-15 59
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.9
Extension bending moment (Nm) 9
Maximum Nij 0.16
Chest maximum compression (mm) 19
Femur (kN)
Left 0.4
Right 0.5
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 1
Right 0
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 0
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.53
Right 0.45
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 0.9
Right 0.4
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 43
Right 35

About the small overlap front test

Small overlap front: passenger-side

Rating applies to 2019-25 models

Tested vehicle: 2019 Nissan Altima 2.5 S 4-door

The Nissan Altima was redesigned for the 2019 model year. Passenger-side small overlap frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Nissan.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Passenger injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Passenger restraints and dummy kinematics
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on passenger side

Test ID VTP1833
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 12
Footrest (cm) 9
Right toepan (cm) 3
Center toepan (cm) 4
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 2
Upper occupant compartment
Center dash (cm) 2
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 5
Upper dash (cm) 5
Right lower dash (cm) 5

Passenger injury measures

Test ID VTP1833
Head
HIC-15 52
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.7
Extension bending moment (Nm) 14
Maximum Nij 0.19
Chest maximum compression (mm) 19
Femur (kN)
Left 1.4
Right 1.5
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 2
Right 0
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 0
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.37
Right 0.32
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 0.9
Right 1.3
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 29
Right 38

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTP1833
Head
HIC-15 37
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.7
Extension bending moment (Nm) 11
Maximum Nij 0.13
Chest maximum compression (mm) 23
Femur (kN)
Left 0.3
Right 0.2
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 0
Right 0
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 0
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.19
Right 0.32
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 0.7
Right 0.8
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 23
Right 31

About the small overlap front test

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2019-25 models

Tested vehicle: 2019 Nissan Altima 2.5 S 4-door

The Nissan Altima was redesigned for the 2019 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 VTF1827
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 7
Left (cm) 10
Center (cm) 10
Right (cm) 6
Brake pedal (cm) 4
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 0
Right (cm) 0
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 1
Rearward (cm) -5
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 0

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTF1827
Head
HIC-15 155
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.9
Extension bending moment (Nm) 25
Maximum Nij 0.30
Chest maximum compression (mm) 27
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 0.4
Femur force - right (kN) 0.7
Knee displacement - left (mm) 1
Knee displacement - right (mm) 3
Maximum tibia index - left 0.29
Maximum tibia index - right 0.42
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 1.7
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 1.5
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 47
Right 56

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2019-21 models

Tested vehicle: 2019 Nissan Altima 2.5 SV 4-door

The Nissan Altima was redesigned for the 2019 model year. Side ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Nissan.

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

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTS1825
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -10.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTS1825
Head HIC-15 138
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.9
Compression (kN) 0.6
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 37
Lateral force (kN) 1.3
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 31
Average deflection (mm) 28
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.11
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.36
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 2.8
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.8
Combined force (kN) 5.5
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 1.6
L-M moment (Nm) 289
A-P moment (Nm) 71

Passenger injury measures

Test ID VTS1825
Head HIC-15 99
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.3
Compression (kN) 0.3
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 30
Lateral force (kN) 1.0
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 14
Average deflection (mm) 12
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.16
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.16
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.3
Acetabulum force (kN) 1.1
Combined force (kN) 1.3
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.3
L-M moment (Nm) 104
A-P moment (Nm) 29

About the original side crash test

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2019-24 models

Tested vehicle: 2019 Nissan Altima 2.5 S 4-door

Overall evaluation
Curb weight3,203 lbs
Peak force14,235 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio4.44

About the roof strength test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Power cloth seat

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Power cloth seat
Geometry
Backset (mm) 18
Distance below top of head (mm) 20
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 10.4
Head contact time (ms) 58
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 0
Max neck tension (N) 288

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
  • SV trim
  • SL trim
  • Platinum trim
Low-beam headlight typeLED projector
High-beam headlight typeLED projector
Curve-adaptive?No
High-beam assist?Yes
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 High-beam assist credit

Low beams
On the straightaway, visibility was good on the right side of the road and fair on the left side. On curves, visibility was fair on the sharp left and both right curves and inadequate on the gradual left curve.

The low beams never exceeded glare limits.

High beams
On the straightaway, visibility was good on both sides of the road. On curves, visibility was fair on the gradual left curve and inadequate on the sharp left and both right curves.

High-beam assist compensates for some limitations of this vehicle's low beams on the straightaway and on both left curves.

Technical measurements for this test
Trim level(s)
  • SR trim
  • SV trim
  • SL trim
  • Platinum trim
Low-beam headlight type LED projector
High-beam headlight type LED projector
Curve-adaptive? No
High-beam assist? Yes
Overall rating
Applies to 2019-25 models
LOW BEAMS Average minimum useful
illumination distance (5 lux)		 Amount glare
exceeded threshold
Straightaway right edge 123.5 m None
Straightaway left edge 50.6 m None
250m radius right curve, right edge 63.2 m None
250m radius left curve, right edge 46.8 m None
150m radius right curve, right edge 50.2 m None
150m radius left curve, right edge 48.4 m None
HIGH BEAMS Average minimum useful
illumination distance (5 lux)
Straightaway right edge 159.7 m
Straightaway left edge 149.3 m
250m radius right curve, right edge 63.2 m
250m radius left curve, left edge 65.5 m
150m radius right curve, right edge 49.9 m
150m radius left curve, left edge 50.2 m

Trim level(s)

  • S trim
Low-beam headlight typeHalogen 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 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 good on the right side of the road and fair on the left side. On curves, visibility was fair on both right curves and inadequate on both left curves.

Technical measurements for this test
Trim level(s)
  • S trim
Low-beam headlight type Halogen projector
High-beam headlight type Halogen reflector
Curve-adaptive? No
High-beam assist? No
Overall rating
Applies to 2019-20 models
LOW BEAMS Average minimum useful
illumination distance (5 lux)		 Amount glare
exceeded threshold
Straightaway right edge 83.6 m None
Straightaway left edge 54.0 m None
250m radius right curve, right edge 51.6 m None
250m radius left curve, left edge 45.1 m None
150m radius right curve, right edge 42.0 m None
150m radius left curve, left edge 38.0 m None
HIGH BEAMS Average minimum useful
illumination distance (5 lux)
Straightaway right edge 154.8 m
Straightaway left edge 128.7 m
250m radius right curve, right edge 67.8 m
250m radius left curve, left edge 62.5 m
150m radius right curve, right edge 55.9 m
150m radius left curve, left edge 54.4 m

About the headlight evaluation

Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle

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

System details

  • Standard Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB)
  • Standard Intelligent Forward Collision Warning (I-FCW)

Overall evaluation

Applies to 2019-20 models

Superior
Superior
  • 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 24 mph.

System details

  • Optional Automatic Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection
  • Standard Intelligent Forward Collision Warning (I-FCW)

Package name

  • Optional Driver Assist Package on S trim
  • standard on SR, SV, SR VC-Turbo, SL, Platinum, and Platinum VC-Turbo

Overall evaluation

Applies to 2020 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, this vehicle avoided a collision.

About the original front crash prevention test

Front crash prevention: pedestrian (day)

System details

  • optional Automatic Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection

Overall evaluation

This rating applies to 2019-24 models of the following trim lines: S trim equipped with Driver Assist Package package, SR trim, SV trim, SR VC-Turbo trim, SL trim, Platinum trim, Platinum VC-Turbo trim

Advanced
Advanced
with optional equipment

Crossing child

  • In the 12 mph test, this vehicle avoided a collision.
  • In the 25 mph test, impact speed was reduced by 11 mph.

Crossing adult

  • In the 12 mph test, this vehicle avoided a collision.
  • In the 25 mph test, this vehicle avoided a collision.

Parallel adult

  • In the 25 mph test, impact speed was reduced by 18 mph.
  • In the 37 mph test, this vehicle avoided a collision. A warning was issued 1.8 seconds before impact.

About the pedestrian front crash prevention test

Child seat anchors

Rating applies to 2019-22 models

Overall evaluation
Vehicle trim2.5 S
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 trim2.5 S
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
not 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
not too deep in seat
not too much force needed to attach
easy to maneuver around anchors
Technical measurements for this test

Seat position 21

3

Lower anchor A
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 0-2
Force (lbs) 7
Clearance angle (degrees) 92
Lower anchor B
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 0-2
Force (lbs) 12
Clearance angle (degrees) 93
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) 0-2
Force (lbs) 9
Clearance angle (degrees) 85
Lower anchor B
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 0-2
Force (lbs) 8
Clearance angle (degrees) 89
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