2014 Nissan Maxima

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

Crash avoidance & mitigation

Evaluation criteria	Rating
Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle	Not available

Seat belts & child restraints

Evaluation criteria	Rating
LATCH ease of use

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 2009-14 models

Tested vehicle: 2012 Nissan Maxima 3.5 S 4-door

The Nissan Maxima 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

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 not maintained well.

The frontal and side curtain airbags worked reasonably well together to protect the head from injury in the crash test. Still, the curtain airbag should extend farther forward toward the A-pillar to protect the head from contact with forward side structure and outside objects if crash circumstances were to differ slightly.

Despite considerable intrusion into the driver footwell area, risk of injuries to the dummy's legs and feet was low.

Technical measurements for this test

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CEN1230
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm)	22
Footrest (cm)	13
Left toepan (cm)	9
Brake pedal (cm)	3
Parking brake (cm)	15
Rocker panel lateral average (cm)	5
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column	7
Upper hinge pillar max (cm)	14
Upper dash (cm)	17
Lower instrument panel (cm)	19

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CEN1230
Head
HIC-15	65
Peak gs at hard contact	no contact
Neck
Tension (kN)	1.0
Extension bending moment (Nm)	12
Maximum Nij	0.22
Chest maximum compression (mm)	23
Femur (kN)
Left	2.3
Right	0.2
Knee displacement (mm)
Left	3
Right	1
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left	0
Right	0
Maximum tibia index
Left	0.45
Right	0.28
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left	1.5
Right	1.2
Foot acceleration (g)
Left	56
Right	34

About the small overlap front test

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2009-14 models

Tested vehicle: 2009 Nissan Maxima 3.5 S 4-door

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

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	VTF0805
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm)	4
Left (cm)	4
Center (cm)	5
Right (cm)	7
Brake pedal (cm)	3
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm)	0
Right (cm)	-1
Steering column movement
Upward (cm)	-5
Rearward (cm)	-1
A-pillar rearward movement (cm)	0

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	VTF0805
Head
HIC-15	482
Peak gs at hard contact	94
Neck
Tension (kN)	1.3
Extension bending moment (Nm)	20
Maximum Nij	0.28
Chest maximum compression (mm)	31
Legs
Femur force - left (kN)	0.3
Femur force - right (kN)	4.3
Knee displacement - left (mm)	1
Knee displacement - right (mm)	8
Maximum tibia index - left	0.28
Maximum tibia index - right	0.59
Tibia axial force - left (kN)	2.1
Tibia axial force - right (kN)	1.1
Foot acceleration (g)
Left	55
Right	123

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2009-14 models

Tested vehicle: 2009 Nissan Maxima 3.5 S 4-door with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Nissan Maxima 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	CES0925
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm)	-10.0
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CES0925
Head HIC-15	161
Neck
Tension (kN)	0.6
Compression (kN)	0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm)	35
Lateral force (kN)	1.3
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm)	36
Average deflection (mm)	32
Maximum deflection rate (m/s)	4.11
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s)	0.41
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN)	2.3
Acetabulum force (kN)	1.1
Combined force (kN)	2.3
Left femur
L-M force (kN)	1.2
L-M moment (Nm)	221
A-P moment (Nm)	64

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CES0925
Head HIC-15	109
Neck
Tension (kN)	0.4
Compression (kN)	0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm)	31
Lateral force (kN)	1.3
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm)	27
Average deflection (mm)	20
Maximum deflection rate (m/s)	4.09
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s)	0.21
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN)	0.7
Acetabulum force (kN)	1.6
Combined force (kN)	2.2
Left femur
L-M force (kN)	0.6
L-M moment (Nm)	107
A-P moment (Nm)	16

About the original side crash test

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2009-14 models

Tested vehicle: 2009 Nissan Maxima 3.5 S 4-door

Overall evaluation
Curb weight	3,532 lbs
Peak force	12,103 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio	3.43

About the roof strength test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Power leather seats AHR

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry

Technical measurements for this test

Seat type	Power leather seats AHR
Geometry
Backset (mm)	32
Distance below top of head (mm)	32
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail	Fail
Max T1 acceleration (g)	10.5
Head contact time (ms)	81
Force rating	2
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N)	148
Max neck tension (N)	766

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

Child seat anchors

Rating applies to 2014 models

Evaluation criteria	Rating
Overall evaluation
Vehicle trim	3.5 SV
Seat type	leather

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.

Evaluation criteria	Rating
Overall evaluation
Vehicle trim	3.5 SV
Seat type	leather

Rating icon	Rating
G	Good
A	Acceptable
M	Marginal
P	Poor
	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

Position	Rating
1
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
2	Tether anchor
	easy-to-find location
	no other hardware could be confused for anchor
	Lower anchors
	none available
3
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
	easy to maneuver around anchors

Technical measurements for this test

Lower anchor A
Open access rated	No
Depth (cm)	2-4
Force (lbs)	22
Clearance angle (degrees)	66
Lower anchor B
Open access rated	No
Depth (cm)	2-4
Force (lbs)	19
Clearance angle (degrees)	61
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

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

Lower anchor A
Open access rated	No
Depth (cm)	2-4
Force (lbs)	19
Clearance angle (degrees)	59
Lower anchor B
Open access rated	No
Depth (cm)	2-4
Force (lbs)	20
Clearance angle (degrees)	67
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