2017 Nissan Versa

minicar / 4-door sedan

2017 Nissan Versa 4-door sedan
2016 Nissan Versa shown

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Small overlap front: driver-side
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
Roof strength
Head restraints & seats

Crash avoidance & mitigation

Front crash prevention
Not available

Seat belts & child restraints

LATCH ease of use

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 2012-19 models

Tested vehicle: 2014 Nissan Versa S 4-door

The Nissan Versa sedan was redesigned for the 2012 model year, but the Versa hatchback was not redesigned and remained essentially unchanged for the 2012 model year. Therefore the small overlap frontal ratings detailed below apply only to the sedan. Also, the sedan's weight was reduced sufficiently to reclassify it as a minicar beginning with the 2012 redesign. (Earlier sedans and the 2007-12 hatchbacks are classified as small cars.)

Following a one-year absence, the Versa hatchback was redesigned for the 2014 model year and renamed the Versa Note. Nissan believes the Versa Note is sufficiently different from the Versa sedan that the two variants do not share ratings.

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 barely contacted the frontal airbag before sliding off the left side and leaving the head vulnerable to contact with forward structure. The steering column moved upward 12 cm and 15 cm to the right, contributing to a lack of protection for the head and allowing little airbag cushioning for the chest. The side curtain airbag deployed and had sufficient forward coverage to protect the head from contact with forward side structure and outside objects. The side torso airbag also deployed. (Beginning with 2016 models, the driver frontal airbag was changed to a simpler design with flexible venting technology. Because the dummy's head barely interacted with the frontal airbag in the test of the 2014 model, it is unlikely that any changes in dummy kinematics would be expected in 2016 and later models.)

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 was not maintained well.

During the crash, the dummy's head and torso barely contacted the airbag before sliding off to the left as the steering column moved upward and to the right. The side curtain airbag extended far enough forward toward the A-pillar to protect the head from contact with forward side structure.

Door hinge pillar and instrument panel intrusion was extensive and contributed to a high risk of injury to the left lower leg and a moderate risk to the left knee.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEN1334
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 42
Footrest (cm) 23
Left toepan (cm) 16
Brake pedal (cm) 4
Parking brake (cm)
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 11
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column 10
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 22
Upper dash (cm) 27
Lower instrument panel (cm) 29

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEN1334
Head
HIC-15 77
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.1
Extension bending moment (Nm) 39
Maximum Nij 0.39
Chest maximum compression (mm) 24
Femur (kN)
Left 3.2
Right 1.2
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 13
Right 1
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 1
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 1.81
Right 0.70
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 5.8
Right 2.6
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 89
Right 45

How the driver-side small overlap front test is conducted

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2016-19 models

Tested vehicle: 2016 Nissan Versa S 4-door

The Nissan Versa sedan was redesigned for the 2012 model year. Beginning with 2016 models, the driver frontal airbag was changed to a simpler design with flexible venting technology.

Two tests of the Versa sedan were conducted by Nissan, one of a 2012 model and the other of a 2016 model. Moderate overlap frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute as part of frontal crash test verification. As expected, the newer airbag did not contribute to any significant changes in test results. Therefore, the ratings are based on both tests, but vehicle specifications listed below are for the 2016 model.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Leg/foot, left
Leg/foot, right
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTF1602 VTF1113
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 11 6
Left (cm) 12 10
Center (cm) 10 9
Right (cm) 12 10
Brake pedal (cm) 7 4
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 4 2
Right (cm) 4 3
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 2 3
Rearward (cm) 0 -1
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 2 2

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTF1602 VTF1113
Head
HIC-15 298 245
Peak gs at hard contact no contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.1 1.2
Extension bending moment (Nm) 7 20
Maximum Nij 0.18 0.22
Chest maximum compression (mm) 34 40
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 3.1 3.2
Femur force - right (kN) 2.1 2.5
Knee displacement - left (mm) 2 0
Knee displacement - right (mm) 1 4
Maximum tibia index - left 0.40 0.24
Maximum tibia index - right 0.47 0.60
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 2.4 1.8
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 2.5 1.7
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 56 54
Right 56 54

How the moderate overlap front test is conducted

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2016-19 models

Tested vehicle: 2016 Nissan Versa SV 4-door

The Nissan Versa sedan was redesigned for the 2012 model year. Beginning with 2016 models, the side curtain and driver side thorax airbags were modified.

Two tests of the Versa sedan were conducted by Nissan, one of a 2012 model and the other of a 2016 model. Side ratings are assigned by the Institute as part of side crash test verification. The two models are rated separately, except that the structure ratings for both vehicles are based on both tests.

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
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTS1602 CES1201
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -7.0 -8.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTS1602
Head HIC-15 258
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.3
Compression (kN) 0.4
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 34
Lateral force (kN) 1.6
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 38
Average deflection (mm) 33
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.73
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.62
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 2.1
Acetabulum force (kN) 3.0
Combined force (kN) 4.8
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.9
L-M moment (Nm) 137
A-P moment (Nm) 45

Passenger injury measures

Test ID VTS1602
Head HIC-15 303
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.2
Compression (kN) 0.5
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 40
Lateral force (kN) 1.8
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 36
Average deflection (mm) 27
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 2.74
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.45
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 1.4
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.8
Combined force (kN) 4.0
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.4
L-M moment (Nm) 80
A-P moment (Nm) 55

How the side crash test is conducted

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2012-19 models

Tested vehicle: 2012 Nissan Versa 1.6 S 4-door

Overall evaluation
Curb weight 2,412 lbs
Peak force 11,947 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio 4.95

How the roof strength test is conducted

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Manual cloth seat

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Manual cloth seat
Geometry
Backset (mm) 2
Distance below top of head (mm) 15
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 13.2
Head contact time (ms) 49
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 37
Max neck tension (N) 387

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

Child seat anchors

Rating applies to 2015-19 models

Overall evaluation
Vehicle trim SV
Seat type cloth

This vehicle has 2 rear seating positions with complete child seat attachment (LATCH) hardware.

It has 1 additional seating position with a tether anchor only.

Overall evaluation
Vehicle trim SV
Seat type cloth
1 2 3
G Good
A Acceptable
M Marginal
P Poor
Seating positions that rely on borrowed lower anchors or have only a tether anchor available are not rated.
thether anchor symbol
Tether anchor
lower anchor symbol
Lower anchors
shared lower achors symbol
Lower anchor(s) can be borrowed from adjacent positions(s)
No hardware available

Details by seating position

1
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
no other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
too deep in seat
not too much force needed to attach
easy to maneuver around anchors
2
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
no other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
none available
3
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
no other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
too deep in seat
not too much force needed to attach
easy to maneuver around anchors
Technical measurements for this test

Seat position 21

3

Lower anchor A
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 2-4
Force (lbs) 26
Clearance angle (degrees) 57
Lower anchor B
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 2-4
Force (lbs) 21
Clearance angle (degrees) 55
Tether anchor
Location Rear deck
Confusing hardware present No
Has contrasting label
within 3 inches of tether anchor
No

Seat position 22

2

Lower anchor A
No lower latch for this seat position
Lower anchor B
No lower latch for this seat position
Tether anchor
Location Rear deck
Confusing hardware present No
Has contrasting label
within 3 inches of tether anchor
No

Seat position 23

1

Lower anchor A
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 2-4
Force (lbs) 22
Clearance angle (degrees) 57
Lower anchor B
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 2-4
Force (lbs) 17
Clearance angle (degrees) 63
Tether anchor
Location Rear deck
Confusing hardware present No
Has contrasting label
within 3 inches of tether anchor
No

How child seat anchors are evaluated

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