1998 Nissan Maxima
midsize car / 4-door sedan
Moderate overlap front: original test
Rating applies to 1997-99 models
Tested vehicle: 1998 Nissan Maxima GXE 4-door
The Nissan Maxima was redesigned for the 1995 model year and the Infiniti I30 was introduced in the 1996 model year. Both were structurally modified for 1997 to improve performance in frontal offset crashes.
| Overall evaluation | |
|---|---|
| Structure and safety cage | |
| Driver injury measures | |
| Head/neck | |
| Chest | |
| Leg/foot, left | |
| Leg/foot, right | |
| Driver restraints and dummy kinematics Dummy movement was reasonably well controlled. During rebound, the dummy's head hit the upper anchorage of the shoulder belt on the B-pillar. There was too much upward movement of the steering wheel. |
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 reasonably well.
Intrusion into the footwell area contributed to the possibility of lower leg injury.
Rear bumpers on 1995-96 models allowed more than $2,000 damage in a 5 mph pole impact (left). Bumpers on 1997-99s are much improved. They allowed little damage in the same test (right).
Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side
| Test ID | CF97024 |
|---|---|
| Footwell intrusion | |
| Footrest (cm) | 22 |
| Left (cm) | 30 |
| Center (cm) | 28 |
| Right (cm) | 21 |
| Brake pedal (cm) | 20 |
| Instrument panel rearward movement | |
| Left (cm) | 10 |
| Right (cm) | 7 |
| Steering column movement | |
| Upward (cm) | 10 |
| Rearward (cm) | 7 |
| A-pillar rearward movement (cm) | 10 |
Driver injury measures
| Test ID | CF97024 |
|---|---|
| Head | |
| HIC-15 | 309 |
| Peak gs at hard contact | 28 |
| Neck | |
| Tension (kN) | 1.6 |
| Extension bending moment (Nm) | 31 |
| Maximum Nij | 0.29 |
| Chest maximum compression (mm) | 30 |
| Legs | |
| Femur force - left (kN) | 3.4 |
| Femur force - right (kN) | 2.9 |
| Knee displacement - left (mm) | 6 |
| Knee displacement - right (mm) | 13 |
| Maximum tibia index - left | 1.08 |
| Maximum tibia index - right | 0.66 |
| Tibia axial force - left (kN) | 1.6 |
| Tibia axial force - right (kN) | 4.5 |
| Foot acceleration (g) | |
| Left | 62 |
| Right | 73 |