2000 Infiniti Q45

large luxury car / 4-door sedan

2000 Infiniti Q45 4-door sedan
1997 Infiniti Q45 shown

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Moderate overlap front: original test

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 1997-2001 models built after March 1997

Tested vehicle: 1997 Infiniti Q45 4-door

The Infiniti Q45 was redesigned for the 1997 model year. All 1997 and later Q45 models manufactured after March 1997 include structural changes to improve occupant protection in frontal crashes. (Information about when a specific vehicle was manufactured is on the certification label typically affixed to the car on the driver door or adjacent B-pillar.)

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has evaluated the crashworthiness of a Q45 with the structural changes in two 40 mph moderate overlap frontal crash tests into deformable barriers. (Following discussions with the automaker about the head injury criterion in the first crash test, the second offset test was conducted. Similar results were obtained. This evaluation 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
Dummy movement wasn't well controlled in either crash test. After the dummy moved forward into the airbag, the seatback moved forward so that the head restraint hit the dummy's head. During rebound, the dummy's head hit the B-pillar.

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.

Side airbags inflated during the offset test to help control the dummy's movement.

Forces on the dummy's left lower leg were high in the second crash test, indicating likely injury.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CF97007 CF97008
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 15 19
Left (cm) 19 25
Center (cm) 22 29
Right (cm) 15 20
Brake pedal (cm) 16 20
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 8 10
Right (cm) 4 6
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 8 9
Rearward (cm) 6 8
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 11 12

Driver injury measures

Test ID CF97007 CF97008
Head
HIC-15 786 841
Peak gs at hard contact 37 25
Neck
Tension (kN) 2.3 2.4
Extension bending moment (Nm) 24 29
Maximum Nij 0.41 0.44
Chest maximum compression (mm) 44 41
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 3.7 3.1
Femur force - right (kN) 2.8 2.9
Knee displacement - left (mm) 2 0
Knee displacement - right (mm) 5 5
Maximum tibia index - left 0.91 1.21
Maximum tibia index - right 0.63 1.12
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 1.1 1.6
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 1.4 1.4
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 73 56
Right 47 56

How the moderate overlap front test is conducted