2015 Acura TLX Crash Test Results
Since IIHS introduced the small overlap crash test, most Honda/Acura cars perform extremely well, therefore giving people the impression that their vehicles had paid attention to structural rigidity and safety.
This is also true for the completely-new 2015 Acura TLX, which is the successor to the previous Acura TL.
How Acura Enhanced the TLX
From test results published by IIHS today, we have a rough idea of how Acura has enhanced the TLX’s car body rigidity. Here is a brief analysis:
1. B-pillar strength has been improved significantly. Side crash test result is -19cm (after side crash, the intrusion still has 19cm of distance to the driver seat’s center line), compared to 2014 TL’s -13.5cm.
2. Roof strength is also enhanced thanks to the B-pillar improvement mentioned above. Its strength is up from 2014 TL’s 17,057 lbs to 20,412 lbs.
3. Frontal structure for crash protection has very slight advantages over the previous TL.
This is 2014 TL’s result:
| Footwell intrusion | |
|---|---|
| Footrest (cm) | 3 |
| Left (cm) | 12 |
| Center (cm) | 12 |
| Right (cm) | 8 |
| Brake pedal (cm) | 4 |
| Instrument panel rearward movement | |
| Left (cm) | 0 |
| Right (cm) | 0 |
| Steering column movement | |
| Upward (cm) | 0 |
| Rearward (cm) | -6 |
| A-pillar rearward movement (cm) | 1 |
and this is the 2015 TLX’s data:
| Footwell intrusion | |
|---|---|
| Footrest (cm) | 2 |
| Left (cm) | 10 |
| Center (cm) | 7 |
| Right (cm) | 4 |
| Brake pedal (cm) | 9 |
| Instrument panel rearward movement | |
| Left (cm) | 0 |
| Right (cm) | 0 |
| Steering column movement | |
| Upward (cm) | -3 |
| Rearward (cm) | -1 |
| A-pillar rearward movement (cm) | 0 |
4. As a consequence, the 2015 TLX’s small overlap test result is actually WORSE than the 2014 TL. From the below test photos provided by IIHS: you can see after the crash, there is obviously a deformation to the TLX’s A-pillar.
The reason for this is: the 2014 TL was very lucky during the small overlap test – when it was colliding with the barrier, the shape of its frontal structure let it “slide” past the barrier, which avoids a direct impact to its safety cage; On the contrary, the 2015 TLX is not so lucky: it did not “slide” past the barrier, so finally its safety cage directly absorbed most of the impact energy; also taken into account that the TLX does not receive significant strength improvement on its frontal structure, therefore the impact energy generated considerable large deformations to the A-pillar, and thus affecting the driver’s survival space.
However, this does not mean the 2015 TLX’s safety is worse than the previous TL: had the TL hit the impact barrier directly, it may have similar A-pillar deformations, like what the TLX has right now.
TLX Advancements
The 2015 TLX is also equipped with some advanced electronic collision prevention features, such as forward collision warning, and low-speed/high-speed autobrake, which helps it to earn a full score for the front crash prevention section. In fact, the 2015 TLX earned the IIHS 2014 Top Safety Pick Plus rating.
Feel free to leave a question or share an opinion in the comment box below.
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