The Chevrolet Trax, redesigned for the 2024 model year, has undergone rigorous testing by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). For prospective buyers prioritizing safety, understanding these Chevy Trax Ratings is crucial in making an informed decision. This detailed breakdown explores the performance of the 2024-2025 Chevy Trax in various IIHS crashworthiness and safety feature evaluations, providing a comprehensive overview of its safety capabilities.
Small Overlap Front Crash Test: Driver and Passenger Sides
The small overlap front crash test simulates a collision where only a small portion of the vehicle’s front end impacts another vehicle or a narrow object like a tree or pole. The Chevy Trax underwent both driver-side and passenger-side small overlap tests.
Driver-Side Small Overlap Front
The 2024-25 Chevy Trax achieved a “Good” rating in the driver-side small overlap front evaluation. This “Good” rating, the highest possible, signifies that the vehicle provided excellent protection in this challenging crash scenario. Key aspects of the evaluation and their “Good” ratings include:
- Overall driver-side evaluation: Good
- Structure and safety cage: Good
- Driver injury measures (Head/neck, Chest, Hip/thigh, Lower leg/foot): Good across all categories.
- Driver restraints and dummy kinematics: Good
Technical measurements from the driver-side test further illustrate the Trax’s robust performance. Minimal intrusion into the occupant compartment was recorded, with a maximum lower hinge pillar intrusion of only 2 cm. Injury measures recorded on the crash test dummy were also minimal, indicating a low risk of injury in a real-world crash of similar severity. For instance, head injury criterion (HIC-15) was a low 198, and chest compression was a minimal 23mm.
Passenger-Side Small Overlap Front
Mirroring its driver-side performance, the Chevy Trax also earned a “Good” rating in the passenger-side small overlap front test. This consistent top-tier performance on both sides underscores the vehicle’s robust frontal crash protection for all occupants. The passenger-side evaluation also yielded “Good” ratings across all critical metrics:
- Overall passenger-side evaluation: Good
- Structure and safety cage: Good
- Passenger injury measures (Head/neck, Chest, Hip/thigh, Lower leg/foot): Good across all categories.
- Passenger restraints and dummy kinematics: Good
However, technical measurements reveal slightly higher intrusion levels on the passenger side compared to the driver side. For example, lower hinge pillar intrusion measured 8 cm, and footrest intrusion was 6 cm. While injury measures remained low and within the “Good” rating threshold, the data suggests a slightly less contained crash force on the passenger side. Passenger chest compression measured slightly higher at 25mm compared to the driver’s 23mm.
Moderate Overlap Front Crash Test
The moderate overlap front crash test involves a larger portion of the vehicle’s front impacting a barrier. The IIHS conducts two types of moderate overlap tests: the original test and an updated, more stringent test.
Original Moderate Overlap Front
In the original moderate overlap front test, the Chevy Trax again demonstrated excellent crashworthiness, achieving a “Good” overall rating. All measured categories received the top “Good” score:
- Overall evaluation: Good
- Structure and safety cage: Good
- Driver injury measures (Head/neck, Chest, Leg/foot left & right): Good across all categories.
- Driver restraints and dummy kinematics: Good
Analysis of dummy kinematics and occupant compartment intrusion in the original moderate overlap test shows the driver’s survival space was maintained exceptionally well. Minimal intrusion and low injury measures contributed to the “Good” rating. For instance, footrest intrusion was 3 cm, and steering column movement was minimal. Driver chest compression was recorded at 20mm.
Updated Moderate Overlap Front
The updated moderate overlap front test introduces a rear passenger dummy to assess rear occupant protection, a critical enhancement for family vehicles. In this more demanding evaluation, the Chevy Trax received a “Poor” overall rating. While driver injury measures remained “Good,” the rear passenger protection fell short:
- Overall evaluation: Poor
- Structure and safety cage: Good
- Driver injury measures (Head/neck, Chest, Thigh/hip, Leg/foot): Good across all categories.
- Driver restraints and dummy kinematics: Good
- Rear passenger injury measures (Head/neck): Poor
- Rear passenger injury measures (Chest): Marginal
- Rear passenger injury measures (Thigh): Good
- Rear passenger restraints and dummy kinematics: Good
The “Poor” rating is primarily due to elevated head/neck injury risk for the rear passenger dummy. Chest injury risk was also “Marginal”. While the structure held up well (“Good”), and front occupant protection remained high, the updated test reveals a weakness in rear passenger safety in moderate frontal impacts. Specifically, neck tension for the rear passenger dummy was measured at 3.4 kN, a concerning value contributing to the “Poor” head/neck rating.
Side Updated Crash Test
The side updated crash test represents a more severe side impact scenario than previous tests, using a heavier barrier and higher impact speed. In this evaluation, the Chevy Trax earned an “Acceptable” overall rating.
- Overall evaluation: Acceptable
- Structure and safety cage: Acceptable
- Driver injury measures (Head/neck): Good
- Driver injury measures (Torso): Acceptable
- Driver injury measures (Pelvis): Marginal
- Driver head protection: Acceptable
- Rear passenger injury measures (Head/neck): Good
- Rear passenger injury measures (Torso): Acceptable
- Rear passenger injury measures (Pelvis): Good
- Rear passenger head protection: Good
While driver and rear passenger head/neck protection were “Good,” and torso protection was “Acceptable,” the driver pelvis injury measure was “Marginal,” pulling down the overall rating to “Acceptable.” B-pillar intrusion measured -15.5 cm, indicating structural crush stopped short of the driver’s seat centerline. Driver pelvis combined force was measured at 5.5 kN, contributing to the “Marginal” pelvis rating.
Headlight Rating
Headlight performance is critical for nighttime visibility and accident prevention. The Chevy Trax, in all trims, comes equipped with LED projector headlights. However, the IIHS headlight evaluation resulted in a “Marginal” overall rating.
- Overall rating: Marginal
Low beam visibility was rated as fair on straightaways and right curves, but inadequate on a gradual left curve. High beam visibility was inadequate on straightaways and left curves. While glare was not excessive, the limited illumination distance, particularly on curves and with high beams, led to the “Marginal” rating.
Front Crash Prevention: Vehicle-to-Vehicle and Pedestrian
Front crash prevention systems aim to mitigate or prevent collisions. The Chevy Trax comes standard with Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB).
Vehicle-to-Vehicle Front Crash Prevention
In vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention testing, the Chevy Trax received a “Poor” overall rating.
- Overall evaluation: Poor
The system demonstrated speed reduction in tests at 31 mph and 37 mph approaching a passenger car target, but performance was inconsistent and insufficient to avoid a “Poor” rating. Tests at higher speeds (43 mph) and off-center scenarios were not conducted due to the system’s limitations.
Pedestrian Front Crash Prevention
The pedestrian front crash prevention system on the Chevy Trax fared slightly better, earning a “Marginal” overall rating.
- Overall evaluation: Marginal
The system avoided collisions in both 12 mph and 25 mph tests with a crossing child during the day. However, in nighttime scenarios with crossing and parallel adults, performance was inconsistent, especially when using low beams. High beams improved performance, but overall, the system’s effectiveness was deemed “Marginal.”
Seat Belt Reminders and Child Seat Anchors (LATCH)
Seat Belt Reminders
The seat belt reminder system in the Chevy Trax received an “Acceptable” rating.
- Overall evaluation: Acceptable
The front row seat belt reminder met requirements for audible and visual alerts, with sufficient duration and volume. However, the second row lacks a startup status alert.
Child Seat Anchors (LATCH)
For child seat installation, the LATCH system in the Chevy Trax was rated “Acceptable”.
- Overall evaluation: Acceptable
The Trax has two rear seating positions with complete LATCH hardware and an additional position with a tether anchor. While the system is functional, lower anchors were noted as being deep in the seat, potentially affecting ease of use.
Conclusion: Chevy Trax Safety Ratings Overview
The 2024-2025 Chevy Trax presents a mixed bag in terms of safety ratings. It excels in small overlap and original moderate overlap frontal crash tests, providing “Good” protection for front occupants in these scenarios. However, the “Poor” rating in the updated moderate overlap test, particularly concerning rear passenger safety, and the “Acceptable” rating in the updated side crash test raise concerns. “Marginal” headlight and pedestrian front crash prevention ratings, along with a “Poor” vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention rating, indicate areas needing improvement.
While the Chevy Trax offers strong protection in certain crash scenarios, prospective buyers should carefully consider the comprehensive ratings, especially the weaker performance in updated tests and front crash prevention, when evaluating its overall safety profile. These Chevy Trax ratings provide valuable insights for informed decision-making.
