2002 Infiniti I35

midsize luxury car / 4-door sedan

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 2002-04 models

Tested vehicle: 2000 Nissan Maxima GLE 4-door

The Nissan Maxima and the Infiniti I30 (renamed I35 beginning with 2002 models) were redesigned for the 2000 model year. All 2000 and later Maxima and I30/I35 models manufactured after November 1999 include structural and airbag modifications to improve occupant protection in frontal crashes (note: information about when a specific vehicle was manufactured is on the certification label typically affixed to the car on or near the driver door).

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has evaluated the crashworthiness of a Maxima with the structural and airbag modifications in a 40 mph frontal offset crash test into a deformable barrier.

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 reasonably well.

The seat-mounted side airbag deployed after the frontal airbag did. The dummy's head remained inside the occupant compartment on rebound, so there was no contact between the head and side airbag.

Footwell intrusion contributed to the likelihood of injuries to both lower legs.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CF00015
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 15
Left (cm) 26
Center (cm) 25
Right (cm) 21
Brake pedal (cm) 23
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 8
Right (cm) 6
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 9
Rearward (cm) 8
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 9

Driver injury measures

Test ID CF00015
Head
HIC-15 333
Peak gs at hard contact 16
Neck
Tension (kN) 2.0
Extension bending moment (Nm) 25
Maximum Nij 0.37
Chest maximum compression (mm) 33
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 4.8
Femur force - right (kN) 2.0
Knee displacement - left (mm) 11
Knee displacement - right (mm) 7
Maximum tibia index - left 1.22
Maximum tibia index - right 1.21
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 1.4
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 7.1
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 71
Right 121

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) 85
Distance below top of head (mm) 70
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Fail
Max T1 acceleration (g) 16.5
Head contact time (ms) 77
Force rating 3
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 399
Max neck tension (N) 1,571

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