2012 Hyundai Elantra

small car / 4-door sedan

2012 Hyundai Elantra 4-door sedan
2011 Hyundai Elantra shown

Crashworthiness

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

Other available safety features

  • Standard daytime running lights

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 2011-16 models

Tested vehicle: 2013 Hyundai Elantra GLS 4-door

The Hyundai Elantra was redesigned for the 2011 model year.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
The dummy’s head contacted the frontal airbag but slid off the left side, leaving the head vulnerable to contact with forward structure. Additionally, the seat belt allowed excessive forward excursion of the dummy’s head and torso. The side curtain airbag deployed and had sufficient forward coverage to protect the head from contact with side structure and outside objects. The side torso airbag also deployed.

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 dummy’s head contacted the frontal airbag but then slid off the left side. The side curtain airbag extended far enough forward toward the A-pillar to protect the head from contact with forward side structure. However, the seat belt allowed the dummy to move too far forward.

Despite considerable intrusion by the door hinge pillar and instrument panel, risk of injuries to the dummy's legs and feet was low.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEN1310
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 22
Footrest (cm) 11
Left toepan (cm) 7
Brake pedal (cm) 0
Parking brake (cm)
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 10
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column 11
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 18
Upper dash (cm) 17
Lower instrument panel (cm) 15

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEN1310
Head
HIC-15 215
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) no data
Extension bending moment (Nm) 13
Maximum Nij 0.00
Chest maximum compression (mm) 21
Femur (kN)
Left 2.3
Right 1.3
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 4
Right 2
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 0
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.69
Right 0.56
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 2.1
Right 3.0
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 75
Right 54

How the driver-side small overlap front test is conducted

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2011-16 models

Tested vehicle: 2011 Hyundai Elantra GLS 4-door

The Hyundai Elantra was redesigned for the 2011 model year. Moderate overlap frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Hyundai as part of frontal crash test verification.

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

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTF1021
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 5
Left (cm) 7
Center (cm) 7
Right (cm) 4
Brake pedal (cm) 4
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 0
Right (cm) 0
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) -4
Rearward (cm) -3
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 0

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTF1021
Head
HIC-15 235
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.3
Extension bending moment (Nm) 23
Maximum Nij 0.28
Chest maximum compression (mm) 27
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 0.5
Femur force - right (kN) 2.0
Knee displacement - left (mm) 0
Knee displacement - right (mm) 4
Maximum tibia index - left 0.40
Maximum tibia index - right 0.71
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 1.5
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 3.7
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 52
Right 125

How the moderate overlap front test is conducted

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2011-16 models

Tested vehicle: 2011 Hyundai Elantra GLS 4-door with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Hyundai Elantra was redesigned for the 2011 model year. Two side tests of the Elantra were conducted, one by the Institute and the other by Hyundai as part of side crash test verification. Ratings are based on both tests.

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 Institute's crash test.

View of the vehicle after the crash with doors removed, showing the side airbags and damage to the occupant compartment (Institute test car shown).

Smeared greasepaint shows where the driver dummy's head was protected from being hit by hard structures by the side curtain airbag in the Institute's test.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the rear passenger dummy’s head was protected by the side airbag.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTS1101 CES1107
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -14.5 -12.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTS1101 CES1107
Head HIC-15 172 342
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.1 1.2
Compression (kN) 0.3 0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 35 15
Lateral force (kN) 1.6 1.4
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 32 27
Average deflection (mm) 29 22
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.64 3.73
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.38 0.31
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 1.7 2.1
Acetabulum force (kN) 1.9 0.7
Combined force (kN) 3.6 2.6
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 1.3 0.4
L-M moment (Nm) 201 227
A-P moment (Nm) 63 44

Passenger injury measures

Test ID VTS1101 CES1107
Head HIC-15 175 301
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.3 0.4
Compression (kN) 0.6 0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 43 36
Lateral force (kN) 1.6 1.6
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 38 36
Average deflection (mm) 32 32
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 2.90 3.97
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.50 0.76
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.4 0.1
Acetabulum force (kN) 1.0 1.2
Combined force (kN) 1.2 1.2
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.6 1.0
L-M moment (Nm) 234 299
A-P moment (Nm) 51 -65

How the side crash test is conducted

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2011-16 models

Tested vehicle: 2011 Hyundai Elantra GLS 4-door

Overall evaluation
Curb weight 2,748 lbs
Peak force 13,933 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio 5.07

How the roof strength test is conducted

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Manual cloth seat built after March 2011

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Manual cloth seat mfg after March 2011
Geometry
Backset (mm) 20
Distance below top of head (mm) 13
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 10.7
Head contact time (ms) 54
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 0
Max neck tension (N) 453

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