2009 Mazda 3

small car / 4-door sedan

2009 Mazda 3 4-door sedan
2008 Mazda 3 4-door sedan shown

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 2004-09 models

Tested vehicle: 2004 Mazda 3 s 4-door

The Mazda 3 was introduced in the 2004 model year as a replacement for the Protege.

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 very well.

Smeared greasepaint indicates where the dummy’s head hit the roof rail during rebound. Head acceleration from this hit was low.

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 CEF0418
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 5
Left (cm) 8
Center (cm) 6
Right (cm) 4
Brake pedal (cm) 4
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 2
Right (cm) 1
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 1
Rearward (cm) -5
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 1

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEF0418
Head
HIC-15 198
Peak gs at hard contact 22
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.5
Extension bending moment (Nm) 21
Maximum Nij 0.28
Chest maximum compression (mm) 28
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 0.9
Femur force - right (kN) 2.1
Knee displacement - left (mm) 0
Knee displacement - right (mm) 9
Maximum tibia index - left 0.29
Maximum tibia index - right 0.62
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 1.7
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 1.9
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 59
Right 67

How the moderate overlap front test is conducted

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Base seats

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Base seats
Geometry
Backset (mm) 52
Distance below top of head (mm) 55
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Fail
Max T1 acceleration (g) 11.9
Head contact time (ms) 86
Force rating 2
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 116
Max neck tension (N) 984

Seat type: Seats with adjustable lumbar

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Seats with adjustable lumbar
Geometry
Backset (mm) 48
Distance below top of head (mm) 65
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Fail
Max T1 acceleration (g) 10.4
Head contact time (ms) 104
Force rating 2
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 138
Max neck tension (N) 839

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