Top Safety Pick + Top Safety Pick criteria

2015 Subaru Impreza

small car / 4-door sedan

Award applies only to vehicles with optional front crash prevention

2015 Subaru Impreza 4-door sedan
2012 Subaru Impreza shown
Photo courtesy of North American Subaru Inc.

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: vehicle-to-vehicle
Optional system
Superior

Other available safety features

  • Standard daytime running lights
  • Optional lane departure warning

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 2014-16 models

Tested vehicle: 2014 Subaru Impreza 2.0i wagon 4wd

The Subaru Impreza, not including the WRX performance models, was redesigned for the 2012 model year. Beginning with 2014 models, structural changes were made to improve occupant protection primarily in small overlap frontal crashes. These changes (and ratings) apply to the 4-door sedan and wagon (5-door) versions of the Impreza and to the Crosstrek, a wagon with increased ground clearance introduced in the 2013 model year (originally known as the XV Crosstrek).

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics

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 maintained well.

The frontal and side curtain airbags worked well together to keep the head from coming close to any stiff structure or outside objects that could cause injury.

Intrusion into the driver's space was minimal, and risk of injuries to the dummy's legs and feet was low.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEN1337
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 6
Footrest (cm) 12
Left toepan (cm) 7
Brake pedal (cm) 7
Parking brake (cm)
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 2
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column 0
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 2
Upper dash (cm) 4
Lower instrument panel (cm) 4

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEN1337
Head
HIC-15 133
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.0
Extension bending moment (Nm) 9
Maximum Nij 0.20
Chest maximum compression (mm) 26
Femur (kN)
Left 1.0
Right 1.1
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 1
Right 1
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 0
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.68
Right 0.43
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 2.1
Right 2.4
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 96
Right 59

How the driver-side small overlap front test is conducted

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2014-16 models

Tested vehicle: 2014 Subaru Impreza 2.0i Premium 4-door 4wd

The Subaru Impreza, not including the WRX performance models, was redesigned for the 2012 model year. Beginning with 2014 models, structural changes were made to improve occupant protection primarily in small overlap frontal crashes but also in moderate overlap frontal crashes. These changes (and ratings) apply to the 4-door sedan and wagon (5-door) versions of the Impreza and to the Crosstrek, a wagon with increased ground clearance introduced in the 2013 model year (originally known as the XV Crosstrek).

Moderate offset frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Subaru as part of frontal crash test verification.

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 VTF1309
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 3
Left (cm) 5
Center (cm) 8
Right (cm) 7
Brake pedal (cm) 7
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 1
Right (cm) 2
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 0
Rearward (cm) -6
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 0

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTF1309
Head
HIC-15 132
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.3
Extension bending moment (Nm) 15
Maximum Nij 0.23
Chest maximum compression (mm) 34
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 1.7
Femur force - right (kN) 1.8
Knee displacement - left (mm) 2
Knee displacement - right (mm) 1
Maximum tibia index - left 0.54
Maximum tibia index - right 0.39
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 2.8
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 2.7
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 62
Right 66

How the moderate overlap front test is conducted

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2012-16 models

Tested vehicle: 2012 Subaru Impreza 2.0i Premium 4-door 4wd with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Subaru Impreza, not including the WRX performance models, was redesigned for the 2012 model year. Side ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Subaru as part of side crash test verification. The side ratings apply to the 4-door sedan and wagon (5-door) versions of the Impreza and to the Crosstrek, a wagon with increased ground clearance introduced in the 2013 model year (originally known as the XV Crosstrek).

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 VTS1111
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -11.0
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTS1111
Head HIC-15 316
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.3
Compression (kN) 0.7
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 47
Lateral force (kN) 1.8
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 32
Average deflection (mm) 28
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.37
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.50
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 2.0
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.3
Combined force (kN) 4.3
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 1.0
L-M moment (Nm) 147
A-P moment (Nm) -55

Passenger injury measures

Test ID VTS1111
Head HIC-15 324
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.7
Compression (kN) 0.4
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 41
Lateral force (kN) 1.5
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 32
Average deflection (mm) 28
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.46
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.49
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 1.0
Acetabulum force (kN) 1.8
Combined force (kN) 2.0
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 1.2
L-M moment (Nm) 181
A-P moment (Nm) 29

How the side crash test is conducted

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2012-16 models

Tested vehicle: 2012 Subaru Impreza 2.0i wagon 4wd

Rating applies to both the Impreza 4-door sedan and wagon (5-door) versions and to the structurally similar 2013-17 models of the Crosstrek.

Overall evaluation
Curb weight 2,985 lbs
Peak force 15,525 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio 5.20

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) 36
Distance below top of head (mm) 2
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 10.9
Head contact time (ms) 62
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 0
Max neck tension (N) 398

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

Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle

System details

  • Optional EyeSight

Package name

  • Optional EyeSight

Overall evaluation

Applies to 2015-16 models

Superior
Superior
with optional equipment
  • This system meets the requirements for forward collision warning.
  • In the 12 mph test, this vehicle avoided a collision.
  • In the 25 mph test, this vehicle avoided a collision.

How front crash prevention is evaluated