2011 Nissan Sentra

small car / 4-door sedan

Crashworthiness

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

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.

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2007-12 models

Tested vehicle: 2008 Nissan Sentra 2.0 S 4-door

The Nissan Sentra was redesigned for the 2007 model year.

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

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 well.

Smeared greasepaint indicates where the dummy's head contacted the side curtain airbag during rebound.

Intrusion into the driver's space was minimal, and all leg and foot injury measures were low.

Technical measurements for this test

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CEF0821
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm)	10
Left (cm)	12
Center (cm)	11
Right (cm)	7
Brake pedal (cm)	15
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm)	2
Right (cm)	1
Steering column movement
Upward (cm)	3
Rearward (cm)	0
A-pillar rearward movement (cm)	1

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CEF0821
Head
HIC-15	158
Peak gs at hard contact	no contact
Neck
Tension (kN)	0.9
Extension bending moment (Nm)	18
Maximum Nij	0.25
Chest maximum compression (mm)	0
Legs
Femur force - left (kN)	0.3
Femur force - right (kN)	2.3
Knee displacement - left (mm)	0
Knee displacement - right (mm)	4
Maximum tibia index - left	0.31
Maximum tibia index - right	0.41
Tibia axial force - left (kN)	1.4
Tibia axial force - right (kN)	2.4
Foot acceleration (g)
Left	41
Right	66

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2011-12 models

Tested vehicle: 2011 Nissan Sentra SL 4-door with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Nissan Sentra was redesigned for the 2007 model year. Beginning with 2011 models, Nissan made design changes to the side curtain airbags. Side 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
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Driver head protection
Rear passenger injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Rear passenger head protection

Technical measurements for this test

Test ID	VTS1008
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm)	-2.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	VTS1008
Head HIC-15	674
Neck
Tension (kN)	1.1
Compression (kN)	0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm)	54
Lateral force (kN)	2.6
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm)	36
Average deflection (mm)	31
Maximum deflection rate (m/s)	4.40
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s)	0.48
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN)	1.9
Acetabulum force (kN)	3.0
Combined force (kN)	4.6
Left femur
L-M force (kN)	0.8
L-M moment (Nm)	114
A-P moment (Nm)	82

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	VTS1008
Head HIC-15	132
Neck
Tension (kN)	0.6
Compression (kN)	0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm)	40
Lateral force (kN)	1.6
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm)	36
Average deflection (mm)	31
Maximum deflection rate (m/s)	5.30
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s)	0.54
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN)	0.5
Acetabulum force (kN)	2.8
Combined force (kN)	2.8
Left femur
L-M force (kN)	1.0
L-M moment (Nm)	45
A-P moment (Nm)	192

About the original side crash test

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2007-12 models

Tested vehicle: 2011 Nissan Sentra S 4-door

Overall evaluation
Curb weight	2,971 lbs
Peak force	10,207 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio	3.44

About the roof strength test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Manual cloth seats AHR

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry

Technical measurements for this test

Seat type	Manual cloth seats AHR
Geometry
Backset (mm)	52
Distance below top of head (mm)	34
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail	Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g)	10.9
Head contact time (ms)	59
Force rating	2
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N)	118
Max neck tension (N)	562

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