In the beginning of 2015, Chevrolet quietly made several rolling changes to the midyear 2015 Sonic to improve its performance in crash tests. The changes, which included modifications to the front-end structure, door sill and door pillar to improve performance in the Small Overlap Front Crash Protection Test, enabled the vehicles to receive 2015 Top Safety Pick honors from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
To become a Top Safety Pick, midyear 2015 Sonics needed to receive ratings of “good” — the highest available from the IIHS — in each of the five IIHS crashworthiness evaluations. The Top Safety Pick designation only applies to midyear 2015 Sonics, which started production after February 2015.
“Customer safety is of utmost importance to Chevrolet, across all segments” said Jeff Boyer, vice president, General Motors Global Vehicle Safety. “The Sonic receiving this designation is a testament to that focus.”
Notably, the Sonic is the only car in its class to feature 10 standard airbags, including knee air bags for the driver and front passenger. Sensors throughout the vehicle determine how many air bags deploy in a given crash.
In addition, over 60 percent of the Sonic’s body structure is composed of advanced steels. In a crash, the vehicle’s strong body structure is designed to absorb crash energy and provide a protective “safety cage” around occupants.
The Sonic line also actively works to avoid crashes with two available safety features:
- Forward Collision Alert provides alerts to help the driver avoid crashing into a vehicle they are following that is moving or has come to a stop, while also letting the driver know if they are following a vehicle ahead much too closely.
- Lane Departure Warning provides alerts to help drivers avoid crashes due to unintentionally drifting out of their lane when their turn signal is not activated.
Comments
To bad that the bodies could not have been refreshed, too.
A mini Impala would be amazing.
Personally, I like the way the Sonic is now. An Impala is an upscale machine; the Sonic is not and shouldn’t be since it appears to an entirely different buyer who prefers more aggressive styling than seen on the impala.
I agree with Silent Electrician. The styling of the Sonic, especially the RS, is part of the reason I recently bought one. When they do a refresh, I hope they keep the instrument cluster layout (but maybe add a temperature gauge) and the exposed headlights.