1997 Mazda MPV

minivan

1997 Mazda MPV Minivan
1996 Mazda MPV 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 1996-98 models

Tested vehicle: 1996 Mazda MPV passenger van

The Mazda MPV was introduced in the 1989 model year. Frontal airbags for both the driver and passenger became standard beginning with the 1996 model year.

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. During rebound, the seatback rotated forward so that the head restraint hit the dummy's head. The left knee cracked the lower instrument panel, and a sharp edge produced a deep gash in the dummy's vinyl knee "skin."

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 wasn't maintained well.

The rearward movement of the left front wheel split the seam between the floor and door sill. The wheel intruded into the driver footwell area.

Blue and pink paint show where the dummy's left knee and shin cracked the lower instrument panel. The sharp edge produced a deep gash in the dummy's "skin.".

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CF96018
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 35
Left (cm) 26
Center (cm) 29
Right (cm) 24
Brake pedal (cm) 27
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 15
Right (cm) 11
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 9
Rearward (cm) 7
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 11

Driver injury measures

Test ID CF96018
Head
HIC-15 202
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.9
Extension bending moment (Nm) 35
Maximum Nij 0.32
Chest maximum compression (mm) 29
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 3.1
Femur force - right (kN) 3.9
Knee displacement - left (mm) 15
Knee displacement - right (mm) 0
Maximum tibia index - left 0.94
Maximum tibia index - right 0.92
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 2.7
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 1.0
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 98
Right 77

How the moderate overlap front test is conducted