The Malibu’s standard pretensioning seatbelts also sense rear collisions and remove slack from the front seatbelts to help protect the occupants from whiplash and other injuries. The Altima doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
Both the Malibu and the Altima have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, rearview cameras, available crash mitigating brakes, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rear parking sensors and rear cross-path warning.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Chevrolet Malibu is safer than the Nissan Altima:
|
Malibu |
Altima |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Neck Injury Risk |
18% |
30% |
Neck Stress |
216 lbs. |
343 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
29 lbs. |
78 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
Neck Injury Risk |
36% |
54% |
Neck Stress |
169 lbs. |
280 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
26 lbs. |
110 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
162/232 lbs. |
260/280 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Chevrolet Malibu is safer than the Nissan Altima:
|
Malibu |
Altima |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
160 |
187 |
Chest Movement |
1.3 inches |
1.4 inches |
Hip Force |
238 lbs. |
511 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
12 inches |
16 inches |
Spine Acceleration |
27 G’s |
42 G’s |
Hip Force |
549 lbs. |
769 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.