2003 Infiniti FX

midsize luxury SUV / 4-door SUV

2003 Infiniti FX 4-door SUV

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Moderate overlap front: original test
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 2003-08 models

Tested vehicle: 2003 Infiniti FX35 4-door 4wd

The Infiniti FX was introduced in the 2003 model year. There are two models, the FX35 (equipped with a V6 engine) and the FX45 (equipped with a V8 engine).

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has evaluated the crashworthiness of the FX in two 40 mph moderate overlap frontal crash tests into deformable barriers. In the first test, the driver frontal airbag deployed late, with the result that high forces were recorded on the dummy's head, indicating the likelihood of head injuries. This led Infiniti to modify the frontal airbag deployment characteristics on models produced after September 10, 2003. Also, Infiniti initiated a service campaign to modify at its cost vehicles produced earlier.

The Institute tested a second FX with the modified driver airbag, and the airbag inflated much earlier. Ratings of the FX are based on the results of the second test, except structural performance is based on both tests.

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 second of two frontal offset crash tests. The side curtain airbag and the side chest airbag on the driver side inflated during the crash.

The dummy's position in relation to the steering wheel and instrument panel after both crash tests indicates that the driver's survival space was maintained very well (second test shown).

The dummy's head lightly contacted the side curtain airbag and its fabric cover during rebound.

Intrusion into the driver's space was minimal, and forces on the legs and feet were low.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEF0324 CEF0320
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 5 5
Left (cm) 5 5
Center (cm) 7 6
Right (cm) 6 6
Brake pedal (cm) 4 4
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) -1 -2
Right (cm) -1 -4
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 4 3
Rearward (cm) -2 -3
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 0 0

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEF0324
Head
HIC-15 539
Peak gs at hard contact 87
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.1
Extension bending moment (Nm) 21
Maximum Nij 0.24
Chest maximum compression (mm) 24
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 1.9
Femur force - right (kN) 3.5
Knee displacement - left (mm) 0
Knee displacement - right (mm) 0
Maximum tibia index - left 0.28
Maximum tibia index - right 0.36
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 1.7
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 1.9
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 68
Right 78

How the moderate overlap front test is conducted

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: All seats AHR

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type All seats AHR
Geometry
Backset (mm) 82
Distance below top of head (mm) 70
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 9.2
Head contact time (ms) 110
Force rating 3
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 217
Max neck tension (N) 853

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

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