2015 Nissan Xterra

midsize SUV / 4-door SUV

2015 Nissan Xterra 4-door SUV
2007 Nissan Xterra shown

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
Roof strength
Head restraints & seats

Crash avoidance & mitigation

Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle
Not available

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 2013-15 models

Tested vehicle: 2013 Nissan Xterra S 4-door 4wd

The Nissan Xterra was redesigned for the 2005 model year. Beginning with 2013 models, design changes were made to the frontal airbags and seat belts. Moderate overlap frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Nissan as part of frontal crash test verification. Because the vehicle structure did not change after 2005, structure ratings are based on this test as well as an earlier test of a 2007 Xterra conducted by the Institute.

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 CEF0717 VTF1311
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 10 11
Left (cm) 10 12
Center (cm) 13 17
Right (cm) 10 17
Brake pedal (cm) 3 5
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 0 -1
Right (cm) 0 -1
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 6 7
Rearward (cm) -3 -3
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 1 1

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTF1311
Head
HIC-15 305
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.4
Extension bending moment (Nm) 14
Maximum Nij 0.29
Chest maximum compression (mm) 40
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 3.0
Femur force - right (kN) 1.1
Knee displacement - left (mm) 11
Knee displacement - right (mm) 5
Maximum tibia index - left 0.92
Maximum tibia index - right 0.61
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 3.0
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 5.2
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 128
Right 121

How the moderate overlap front test is conducted

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2015 models

Tested vehicle: 2015 Nissan Xterra S 4-door 4wd with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Nissan Xterra was redesigned for the 2005 model year. Beginning with 2013 models, design changes were made to the side curtain airbags to improve occupant protection in side impact crashes. Beginning with 2015 models, design changes were made to the side thorax airbags and front door trim panels to further improve protection for front seat occupants.

Side ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Nissan as part of side crash test verification. However, because there were no significant side structural changes since the 2005 model year, the structure rating of the most recent model is based on this Nissan test and an earlier test of a 2013 Xterra model plus two Institute tests of 2007 models. Rear passenger dummy injury and head protection ratings are based on the two Nissan tests (2015 and 2013 models), because no changes were made affecting rear seat occupants since 2013.

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 CES0725 CES0727 VTS1228 VTS1422
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -17.5 -17.0 -16.0 -17.0
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTS1422
Head HIC-15 94
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.6
Compression (kN) 0.4
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 32
Lateral force (kN) 1.6
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 34
Average deflection (mm) 29
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.10
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.48
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 1.1
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.0
Combined force (kN) 3.1
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.8
L-M moment (Nm) 119
A-P moment (Nm) 12

Passenger injury measures

Test ID VTS1228 VTS1422
Head HIC-15 158 65
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.1 0.1
Compression (kN) 0.3 0.4
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 23 27
Lateral force (kN) 1.1 1.4
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 24 24
Average deflection (mm) 19 19
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.21 3.00
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.23 0.21
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 1.7 1.1
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.2 2.1
Combined force (kN) 3.6 3.1
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.5 0.7
L-M moment (Nm) 34 81
A-P moment (Nm) 55 37

How the side crash test is conducted

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2005-15 models

Tested vehicle: 2010 Nissan Xterra S 4-door 4wd

Overall evaluation
Curb weight 4,322 lbs
Peak force 14,165 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio 3.28

How the roof strength test is conducted

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Manual cloth seats AHR

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Manual cloth seats AHR
Geometry
Backset (mm) 50
Distance below top of head (mm) 51
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 11.6
Head contact time (ms) 52
Force rating 3
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 230
Max neck tension (N) 781

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