2015 Subaru WRX

small car / 4-door sedan

2015 Subaru WRX 4-door sedan

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

Other available safety features

  • Standard daytime running lights

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 2015-21 models

Tested vehicle: 2015 Subaru WRX Premium 4-door 4wd

The Subaru WRX was redesigned for the 2015 model year. Although the car shares some of its design elements with the Subaru Impreza, there are now sufficient differences for the WRX to be rated separately.

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 driver-side 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.

The driver's space was maintained well, 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 CEN1418
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 10
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) 6
Upper dash (cm) 6
Lower instrument panel (cm) 6

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEN1418
Head
HIC-15 116
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.1
Extension bending moment (Nm) 8
Maximum Nij 0.23
Chest maximum compression (mm) 24
Femur (kN)
Left 1.8
Right 1.6
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 6
Right 2
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 0
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.64
Right 0.66
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 3.0
Right 2.5
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 47
Right 77

How the driver-side small overlap front test is conducted

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2015-21 models

Tested vehicle: 2015 Subaru WRX Premium 4-door 4wd

The Subaru WRX was redesigned for the 2015 model year. Although the car shares some of its design elements with the Subaru Impreza, there are now sufficient differences for the WRX to be rated separately.

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 moderate overlap frontal 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.

Small greasepaint marks on the side curtain airbag show that the dummy's head motion was well controlled as it moved forward into the frontal airbag and then back toward the seat during the crash.

Forces on the lower left leg were high enough to indicate the possibility of injuries.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEF1403
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 5
Left (cm) 3
Center (cm) 6
Right (cm) 6
Brake pedal (cm) 2
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 1
Right (cm) 1
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) -1
Rearward (cm) -5
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 0

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEF1403
Head
HIC-15 373
Peak gs at hard contact 80
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.8
Extension bending moment (Nm) 17
Maximum Nij 0.39
Chest maximum compression (mm) 28
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 1.7
Femur force - right (kN) 1.6
Knee displacement - left (mm) 2
Knee displacement - right (mm) 3
Maximum tibia index - left 0.60
Maximum tibia index - right 0.56
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 5.9
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 2.3
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 67
Right 47

How the moderate overlap front test is conducted

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2015-16 models

Tested vehicle: 2015 Subaru WRX Premium 4-door 4wd with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Subaru WRX was redesigned for the 2015 model year. Although the car shares some of its design elements with the Subaru Impreza, there are now sufficient differences for the WRX to be rated separately.

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

View of the vehicle and barrier just after the crash test.

View of the vehicle after the crash with doors removed, showing the side airbags and damage to the occupant compartment.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the driver dummy's head was protected from being hit by hard structures by the side curtain airbag.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the rear passenger dummy’s head was protected by the side airbag.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CES1404
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -13.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID CES1404
Head HIC-15 273
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.6
Compression (kN) 0.6
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 39
Lateral force (kN) 1.4
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 35
Average deflection (mm) 29
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 4.12
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.55
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 1.1
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.2
Combined force (kN) 3.3
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 1.2
L-M moment (Nm) 166
A-P moment (Nm) 45

Passenger injury measures

Test ID CES1404
Head HIC-15 297
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.3
Compression (kN) 0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 30
Lateral force (kN) 1.3
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 37
Average deflection (mm) 27
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.19
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.43
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.2
Acetabulum force (kN) 1.3
Combined force (kN) 1.3
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.9
L-M moment (Nm) 154
A-P moment (Nm) 42

How the side crash test is conducted

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2015-21 models

Tested vehicle: 2015 Subaru WRX Premium 4-door 4wd

Overall evaluation
Curb weight 3,420 lbs
Peak force 17,641 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio 5.16

How the roof strength test is conducted

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Manual cloth seats

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Manual cloth seats
Geometry
Backset (mm) 22
Distance below top of head (mm) 0
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 12.5
Head contact time (ms) 57
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 0
Max neck tension (N) 379

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