2008 Lexus IS

midsize luxury car / 4-door sedan

2008 Lexus IS 4-door sedan
2006 Lexus IS shown

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Small overlap front: driver-side
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
Roof strength
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.

Small overlap front: driver-side

Rating applies to 2006-13 models

Tested vehicle: 2012 Lexus IS 250 4-door

The Lexus IS was redesigned for the 2006 model year. There are two models, the IS 250 and IS 350, depending on engine size.

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 remained in contact with the frontal airbag, but the head was still vulnerable to contact with forward side structure because the steering column moved 13 cm to the right as the dummy moved to the left. The driver's seat tipped forward and toward the B-pillar. Furthermore, at forwardmost excursion the head had moved outside the open side window, partially due to the lack of a side curtain airbag deployment and leaving the head vulnerable to contact with side structure and outside objects.

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 wasn't maintained well.

Although the dummy's head remained engaged with the frontal airbag during the crash, it became vulnerable to hard contacts because the steering column moved too far to the right and the head moved outside the open side window.

Intrusion into the occupant compartment was extensive. The dummy's left foot was trapped by intruding structure as the left front wheel was forced rearward during the crash. The right foot was trapped beneath the brake pedal.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEN1205
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 39
Footrest (cm) 42
Left toepan (cm) 31
Brake pedal (cm) 25
Parking brake (cm) 31
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 16
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column 1
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 16
Upper dash (cm) 22
Lower instrument panel (cm) 22

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEN1205
Head
HIC-15 190
Peak gs at hard contact negligible
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.2
Extension bending moment (Nm) 13
Maximum Nij 0.23
Chest maximum compression (mm) 23
Femur (kN)
Left 3.3
Right 3.2
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 7
Right 2
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 1
Right 1
Maximum tibia index
Left 2.05
Right 1.06
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 5.9
Right 6.1
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 225
Right 122

How the driver-side small overlap front test is conducted

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2006-13 models

Tested vehicle: 2006 Lexus IS 250 4-door

The Lexus IS was redesigned for the 2006 model year. There are two models, the IS 250 and IS 350, depending on engine size.

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 well.

Smeared greasepaint indicates where the dummy's head hit the A-pillar, sun visor, and roof rail during rebound. Head accelerations from these hits were low.

Intrusion into the driver's space was minimal, and all leg and foot injury measures were low.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEF0531
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 10
Left (cm) 10
Center (cm) 12
Right (cm) 10
Brake pedal (cm) 3
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 3
Right (cm) 3
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 7
Rearward (cm) 0
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 0

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEF0531
Head
HIC-15 308
Peak gs at hard contact 37
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.8
Extension bending moment (Nm) 21
Maximum Nij 0.31
Chest maximum compression (mm) 28
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 1.1
Femur force - right (kN) 1.8
Knee displacement - left (mm) 1
Knee displacement - right (mm) 2
Maximum tibia index - left 0.33
Maximum tibia index - right 0.39
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 2.3
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 3.6
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 53
Right 56

How the moderate overlap front test is conducted

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2006-13 models

Tested vehicle: 2006 Lexus IS 250 4-door with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Lexus IS was redesigned for the 2006 model year. There are two models, the IS 250 and IS 350, depending on engine size.

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 crash test.

View of the vehicle after the crash with doors removed, showing the side airbags and damage to the occupant compartment.

Action shot taken during the side impact crash test showing the driver dummy's head was protected from being hit by hard structures by the side curtain airbag.

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 CES0531
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -12.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID CES0531
Head HIC-15 187
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.6
Compression (kN) 0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 47
Lateral force (kN) 1.6
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 33
Average deflection (mm) 28
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 6.41
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.53
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 2.4
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.6
Combined force (kN) 4.5
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.3
L-M moment (Nm) 76
A-P moment (Nm) 37

Passenger injury measures

Test ID CES0531
Head HIC-15 149
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.1
Compression (kN) 0.3
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 32
Lateral force (kN) 1.7
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 26
Average deflection (mm) 17
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 1.99
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.24
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.6
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.2
Combined force (kN) 2.6
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.4
L-M moment (Nm) 72
A-P moment (Nm) -21

How the side crash test is conducted

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2006-13 models

Tested vehicle: 2011 Lexus IS 350 4-door

Overall evaluation
Curb weight 3,580 lbs
Peak force 14,093 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio 3.94

How the roof strength test is conducted

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Power leather seats

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Power leather seats
Geometry
Backset (mm) 70
Distance below top of head (mm) 52
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Fail
Max T1 acceleration (g) 13.8
Head contact time (ms) 86
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 68
Max neck tension (N) 692

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