Top Safety Pick

2011 Subaru Impreza

small car / 4-door sedan

Award applies only to vehicles except WRX

2011 Subaru Impreza 4-door sedan — 2009 Subaru Impreza shown

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 2008-11 models

Tested vehicle: 2008 Subaru Impreza 2.5i wagon 4wd

The Subaru Impreza was redesigned for the 2008 model year. Moderate overlap frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Subaru. The moderate overlap ratings apply to both the 4-door sedan and 5-door (wagon) variants of the Impreza.

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	VTF0709
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm)	2
Left (cm)	7
Center (cm)	7
Right (cm)	4
Brake pedal (cm)	2
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm)	0
Right (cm)	0
Steering column movement
Upward (cm)	2
Rearward (cm)	-2
A-pillar rearward movement (cm)	1

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	VTF0709
Head
HIC-15	152
Peak gs at hard contact	no contact
Neck
Tension (kN)	0.9
Extension bending moment (Nm)	35
Maximum Nij	0.34
Chest maximum compression (mm)	30
Legs
Femur force - left (kN)	0.6
Femur force - right (kN)	1.4
Knee displacement - left (mm)	0
Knee displacement - right (mm)	1
Maximum tibia index - left	0.55
Maximum tibia index - right	0.55
Tibia axial force - left (kN)	2.1
Tibia axial force - right (kN)	2.2
Foot acceleration (g)
Left	74
Right	56

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2008-11 models

Tested vehicle: 2008 Subaru Impreza 2.5i 4-door 4wd with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Subaru Impreza was redesigned for the 2008 model year. The side impact ratings apply to both the 4-door sedan and 5-door (wagon) variants of the Impreza.

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.

Smeared greasepaint shows where 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	CES0732
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm)	-8.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CES0732
Head HIC-15	369
Neck
Tension (kN)	1.1
Compression (kN)	0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm)	42
Lateral force (kN)	1.6
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm)	32
Average deflection (mm)	23
Maximum deflection rate (m/s)	2.83
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s)	0.41
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN)	1.0
Acetabulum force (kN)	2.6
Combined force (kN)	3.2
Left femur
L-M force (kN)	0.6
L-M moment (Nm)	102
A-P moment (Nm)	53

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CES0732
Head HIC-15	261
Neck
Tension (kN)	0.1
Compression (kN)	1.0
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm)	36
Lateral force (kN)	1.5
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm)	26
Average deflection (mm)	22
Maximum deflection rate (m/s)	3.42
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s)	0.36
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN)	1.3
Acetabulum force (kN)	2.6
Combined force (kN)	3.4
Left femur
L-M force (kN)	0.7
L-M moment (Nm)	150
A-P moment (Nm)	37

About the original side crash test

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2008-11 models

Tested vehicle: 2009 Subaru Impreza 2.5i wagon 4wd

Rating applies to both wagon and sedan (both tested with only minor difference in strength-to-weight ratio).

Overall evaluation
Curb weight	3,132 lbs
Peak force	14,485 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio	4.62

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)	28
Distance below top of head (mm)	36
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail	Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g)	12.5
Head contact time (ms)	62
Force rating	1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N)	11
Max neck tension (N)	449

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