2012 Volkswagen Passat

midsize car / 4-door sedan

2012 Volkswagen Passat 4-door sedan

Crashworthiness

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

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.

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2012-22 models

Tested vehicle: 2012 Volkswagen Passat S 4-door

The Volkswagen Passat was redesigned for the 2012 model year. Moderate overlap frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Volkswagen 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 VTF1104
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 3
Left (cm) 7
Center (cm) 6
Right (cm) 6
Brake pedal (cm) 4
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 0
Right (cm) 0
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) -5
Rearward (cm) -3
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 0

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTF1104
Head
HIC-15 167
Peak gs at hard contact 34
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.1
Extension bending moment (Nm) 12
Maximum Nij 0.24
Chest maximum compression (mm) 34
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 0.3
Femur force - right (kN) 0.8
Knee displacement - left (mm) 0
Knee displacement - right (mm) 0
Maximum tibia index - left 0.33
Maximum tibia index - right 0.71
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 2.7
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 1.7
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 86
Right 134

How the moderate overlap front test is conducted

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2012-22 models

Tested vehicle: 2012 Volkswagen Passat S 4-door with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Volkswagen Passat was redesigned for the 2012 model year. Side ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Volkswagen as part of side crash test verification.

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 VTS1104
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -16.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTS1104
Head HIC-15 413
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.0
Compression (kN) 0.0
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 32
Lateral force (kN) 1.6
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 36
Average deflection (mm) 33
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.00
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.50
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 2.4
Acetabulum force (kN) 1.7
Combined force (kN) 4.0
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 1.3
L-M moment (Nm) 56
A-P moment (Nm) 149

Passenger injury measures

Test ID VTS1104
Head HIC-15 127
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.3
Compression (kN) 1.1
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 27
Lateral force (kN) 1.3
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 30
Average deflection (mm) 27
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.78
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.47
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.4
Acetabulum force (kN) 1.6
Combined force (kN) 1.6
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 2.0
L-M moment (Nm) 189
A-P moment (Nm) 46

How the side crash test is conducted

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2012-22 models

Tested vehicle: 2012 Volkswagen Passat SE 4-door

Overall evaluation
Curb weight 3,256 lbs
Peak force 20,592 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio 6.32

How the roof strength test is conducted

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Power leather seats

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Power leather seats
Geometry
Backset (mm) 24
Distance below top of head (mm) 20
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 12.6
Head contact time (ms) 60
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 19
Max neck tension (N) 548

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