2012 Chevrolet Sonic

small car / 4-door sedan

2012 Chevrolet Sonic 4-door sedan

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Small overlap front: driver-side
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.

Small overlap front: driver-side

Rating applies to 2012-15 models built before March 2015

Tested vehicle: 2013 Chevrolet Sonic LT 4-door

The Chevrolet Sonic was introduced in the 2012 model year. The small overlap frontal ratings apply to both the 4-door sedan and hatchback (5-door) versions of the Sonic.

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 as the steering column moved to the right, leaving the head vulnerable to contact with forward side structure. Additionally, the seat belt allowed excessive forward excursion of the dummy’s head and torso. The side curtain airbag deployed too late during the crash, after the head had moved to the left and was already rebounding, outboard of the inflating curtain, leaving the dummy's head vulnerable to contact with side structure and outside objects.

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 reasonably well.

During the crash, the dummy's head barely contacted the frontal airbag before sliding off to the left, and the side curtain airbag deployed too late (after the time shown in the freeze frame) to offer any head protection, leaving the dummy's head exposed to contact with side structure and outside objects. The seat belt allowed the dummy to move too far forward, as is evident from the gap between the seat back and the dummy's torso.

Even though the knee airbag deployed, intrusion of the instrument panel contributed to a significant risk of injury to the right 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 CEN1313
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 15
Footrest (cm) 8
Left toepan (cm) 4
Brake pedal (cm) 3
Parking brake (cm)
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 5
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column 0
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 10
Upper dash (cm) 11
Lower instrument panel (cm) 8

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEN1313
Head
HIC-15 199
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 2.0
Extension bending moment (Nm) no data
Maximum Nij 0.00
Chest maximum compression (mm) 19
Femur (kN)
Left 1.4
Right 3.2
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 14
Right 10
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 0
Right 1
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.61
Right 0.89
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 1.4
Right 6.9
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 65
Right 99

How the driver-side small overlap front test is conducted

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2012-20 models

Tested vehicle: 2012 Chevrolet Sonic 2LT 4-door

The Chevrolet Sonic was introduced in the 2012 model year as a replacement for the Chevrolet Aveo. The moderate overlap frontal ratings apply to both the 4-door sedan and hatchback (5-door) versions of the Sonic.

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 frontal offset 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.

A high head acceleration occurred when the dummy's head hit the steering wheel through the airbag.

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

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEF1109
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 2
Left (cm) 9
Center (cm) 4
Right (cm) 3
Brake pedal (cm) 7
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 1
Right (cm) 1
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) -2
Rearward (cm) -6
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 0

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEF1109
Head
HIC-15 467
Peak gs at hard contact 94
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.3
Extension bending moment (Nm) 13
Maximum Nij 0.23
Chest maximum compression (mm) 25
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 0.4
Femur force - right (kN) 0.7
Knee displacement - left (mm) 0
Knee displacement - right (mm) 1
Maximum tibia index - left 0.24
Maximum tibia index - right 0.30
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 1.9
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 2.1
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 55
Right 93

How the moderate overlap front test is conducted

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2012-20 models

Tested vehicle: 2012 Chevrolet Sonic 2LT 4-door with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front and rear seat-mounted torso airbags

The Chevrolet Sonic was introduced in the 2012 model year as a replacement for the Chevrolet Aveo. The side ratings apply to both the 4-door sedan and hatchback (5-door) versions of the Sonic.

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 CES1115
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -15.0
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID CES1115
Head HIC-15 116
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.1
Compression (kN) 0.4
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 27
Lateral force (kN) 1.2
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 31
Average deflection (mm) 30
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.94
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.56
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 1.7
Acetabulum force (kN) 1.7
Combined force (kN) 3.3
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 1.0
L-M moment (Nm) 192
A-P moment (Nm) 67

Passenger injury measures

Test ID CES1115
Head HIC-15 79
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.3
Compression (kN) 0.4
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 19
Lateral force (kN) 1.0
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 25
Average deflection (mm) 20
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 2.44
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.17
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.3
Acetabulum force (kN) 1.2
Combined force (kN) 1.4
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.8
L-M moment (Nm) 112
A-P moment (Nm) 41

How the side crash test is conducted

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2012-20 models

Tested vehicle: 2012 Chevrolet Sonic 2LT 4-door

Rating also applies to the 4-door hatchback (5-door) version.

Overall evaluation
Curb weight 2,787 lbs
Peak force 14,976 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio 5.37

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) 25
Distance below top of head (mm) 18
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) 380

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