2012 Chevrolet Sonic

small car / 4-door sedan

2012 Chevrolet Sonic 4-door sedan

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Evaluation criteria Rating
Small overlap front: driver-side
M
Moderate overlap front: original test
G
Side: original test
G
Roof strength
G
Head restraints & seats
G

Key

GGood
AAcceptable
MMarginal
PPoor
Superior
Advanced
Basic

Some ratings use a scale of Poor to Good. Others range from Basic to Superior.

Small overlap front: driver-side

Tested vehicle: 2013 Chevrolet Sonic LT 4-door
Rating applies to 2012-15 models built before March 2015

The Chevrolet Sonic was introduced in the 2012 model year. The small overlap frontal ratings apply to both the 4-door sedan and hatchback (5-door) versions of the Sonic.

Evaluation criteria Rating
Overall evaluation
M
Structure and safety cage
A
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
G
Chest
G
Hip/thigh
G
Lower leg/foot
M
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
The dummy’s head barely contacted the frontal airbag before sliding off the left side as the steering column moved to the right, leaving the head vulnerable to contact with forward side structure. Additionally, the seat belt allowed excessive forward excursion of the dummy’s head and torso. The side curtain airbag deployed too late during the crash, after the head had moved to the left and was already rebounding, outboard of the inflating curtain, leaving the dummy's head vulnerable to contact with side structure and outside objects.
M
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Evaluation criteria Measurement
Test ID CEN1313
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 15
Footrest (cm) 8
Left toepan (cm) 4
Brake pedal (cm) 3
Parking brake (cm)
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 5
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column 0
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 10
Upper dash (cm) 11
Lower instrument panel (cm) 8

Driver injury measures

Evaluation criteria Measurement
Test ID CEN1313
Head
HIC-15 199
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 2.0
Extension bending moment (Nm) no data
Maximum Nij 0.00
Chest maximum compression (mm) 19
Femur (kN)
Left 1.4
Right 3.2
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 14
Right 10
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 0
Right 1
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.61
Right 0.89
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 1.4
Right 6.9
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 65
Right 99

About the small overlap front test

Moderate overlap front: original test

Tested vehicle: 2012 Chevrolet Sonic 2LT 4-door
Rating applies to 2012-20 models

The Chevrolet Sonic was introduced in the 2012 model year as a replacement for the Chevrolet Aveo. The moderate overlap frontal ratings apply to both the 4-door sedan and hatchback (5-door) versions of the Sonic.

Evaluation criteria Rating
Overall evaluation
G
Structure and safety cage
G
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
A
Chest
G
Leg/foot, left
G
Leg/foot, right
G
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
G
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Evaluation criteria Measurement
Test ID CEF1109
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 2
Left (cm) 9
Center (cm) 4
Right (cm) 3
Brake pedal (cm) 7
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 1
Right (cm) 1
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) -2
Rearward (cm) -6
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 0

Driver injury measures

Evaluation criteria Measurement
Test ID CEF1109
Head
HIC-15 467
Peak gs at hard contact 94
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.3
Extension bending moment (Nm) 13
Maximum Nij 0.23
Chest maximum compression (mm) 25
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 0.4
Femur force - right (kN) 0.7
Knee displacement - left (mm) 0
Knee displacement - right (mm) 1
Maximum tibia index - left 0.24
Maximum tibia index - right 0.30
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 1.9
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 2.1
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 55
Right 93

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Tested vehicle: 2012 Chevrolet Sonic 2LT 4-door with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front and rear seat-mounted torso airbags
Rating applies to 2012-20 models

The Chevrolet Sonic was introduced in the 2012 model year as a replacement for the Chevrolet Aveo. The side ratings apply to both the 4-door sedan and hatchback (5-door) versions of the Sonic.

Evaluation criteria Rating
Overall evaluation
G
Structure and safety cage
G
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
G
Torso
G
Pelvis/leg
G
Driver head protection
G
Rear passenger injury measures
Head/neck
G
Torso
G
Pelvis/leg
G
Rear passenger head protection
G
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CES1115
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -15.0
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Evaluation criteria Measurement
Test ID CES1115
Head HIC-15 116
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.1
Compression (kN) 0.4
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 27
Lateral force (kN) 1.2
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 31
Average deflection (mm) 30
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.94
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.56
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 1.7
Acetabulum force (kN) 1.7
Combined force (kN) 3.3
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 1.0
L-M moment (Nm) 192
A-P moment (Nm) 67

Passenger injury measures

Evaluation criteria Measurement
Test ID CES1115
Head HIC-15 79
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.3
Compression (kN) 0.4
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 19
Lateral force (kN) 1.0
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 25
Average deflection (mm) 20
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 2.44
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.17
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.3
Acetabulum force (kN) 1.2
Combined force (kN) 1.4
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.8
L-M moment (Nm) 112
A-P moment (Nm) 41

About the original side crash test

Roof strength

Tested vehicle: 2012 Chevrolet Sonic 2LT 4-door
Rating applies to 2012-20 models

Rating also applies to the 4-door hatchback (5-door) version.

Overall evaluation
G
Curb weight 2,787 lbs
Peak force 14,976 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio 5.37

About the roof strength test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Manual cloth seat

Overall evaluation
G
Dynamic rating
G
Seat/head restraint geometry
G
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Manual cloth seat
Geometry
Backset (mm) 25
Distance below top of head (mm) 18
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 12.5
Head contact time (ms) 57
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 0
Max neck tension (N) 380

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