Top Safety PickTop Safety Pick criteria

2018 Acura RDX

midsize luxury SUV / 4-door SUV

Award applies only to vehicles with optional front crash prevention

2018 Acura RDX 4-door SUV
2016 Acura RDX shown

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Small overlap front: driver-side
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
Roof strength
Head restraints & seats

Crash avoidance & mitigation

Headlights
Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle
Optional system
Superior

Seat belts & child restraints

LATCH ease of use

Other available safety features

  • Optional blind spot detection
  • Optional lane departure warning
  • Optional lane departure prevention

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 2016-18 models

Tested vehicle: 2016 Acura RDX 4-door 4wd

The Acura RDX was redesigned for the 2013 model year. Beginning with 2016 models, the RDX was re-engineered with front-end and occupant compartment structural modifications to improve occupant protection in both small overlap and moderate overlap frontal crashes.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics

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 well.

The frontal and side curtain airbags worked well together to keep the head from coming close to any stiff structure or outside objects that could cause injury.

The driver's space was maintained well, and risk of injuries to the dummy's legs and feet was low.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEN1529
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 5
Footrest (cm) 4
Left toepan (cm) 6
Brake pedal (cm) 8
Parking brake (cm) 13
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 2
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column 1
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 4
Upper dash (cm) 1
Lower instrument panel (cm) 4

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEN1529
Head
HIC-15 202
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 2.0
Extension bending moment (Nm) 16
Maximum Nij 0.32
Chest maximum compression (mm) 19
Femur (kN)
Left 1.6
Right 0.0
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 1
Right 0
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 0
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.56
Right 0.66
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 1.4
Right 1.7
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 52
Right 59

About the small overlap front test

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2016-18 models

Tested vehicle: 2016 Acura RDX Technology 4-door 4wd

The Acura RDX was redesigned for the 2013 model year. Beginning with 2016 models, the RDX was re-engineered with front-end and occupant compartment structural modifications to improve occupant protection in both small overlap and moderate overlap frontal crashes.

Moderate overlap frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Honda. (The car tested by Honda was designated as a 2013 model but included all modifications applied to the 2016 models.)

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Leg/foot, left
Leg/foot, right
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTF1504
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 4
Left (cm) 7
Center (cm) 4
Right (cm) 6
Brake pedal (cm) 1
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 0
Right (cm) 0
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 0
Rearward (cm) -3
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 0

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTF1504
Head
HIC-15 342
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.9
Extension bending moment (Nm) 15
Maximum Nij 0.22
Chest maximum compression (mm) 25
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 1.2
Femur force - right (kN) 0.2
Knee displacement - left (mm) 0
Knee displacement - right (mm) 0
Maximum tibia index - left 0.26
Maximum tibia index - right 0.44
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 2.0
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 1.7
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 85
Right 62

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2016-18 models

Tested vehicle: 2016 Acura RDX Advance 4-door 4wd

The Acura RDX was redesigned for the 2013 model year. Beginning with 2016 models, the RDX was re-engineered with side structural modifications to improve occupant protection in side impact crashes.

Side ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Honda.

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
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTS1504
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -17.0
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTS1504
Head HIC-15 133
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.0
Compression (kN) 0.4
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 34
Lateral force (kN) 1.2
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 27
Average deflection (mm) 24
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.28
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.39
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 1.1
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.1
Combined force (kN) 3.1
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.5
L-M moment (Nm) 39
A-P moment (Nm) 125

Passenger injury measures

Test ID VTS1504
Head HIC-15 44
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.1
Compression (kN) 0.8
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 29
Lateral force (kN) 1.2
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 22
Average deflection (mm) 18
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 2.04
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.16
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.2
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.1
Combined force (kN) 2.2
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.8
L-M moment (Nm) 20
A-P moment (Nm) 92

About the original side crash test

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2013-18 models

Tested vehicle: 2013 Acura RDX 4-door 4wd

Overall evaluation
Curb weight3,806 lbs
Peak force20,843 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio5.48

About the roof strength test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Power leather seats

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Power leather seats
Geometry
Backset (mm) 39
Distance below top of head (mm) 35
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 13.0
Head contact time (ms) 63
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 0
Max neck tension (N) 478

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

Headlights

Trim level(s)

  • All trims
Low-beam headlight typeLED projector
High-beam headlight typeLED projector
Curve-adaptive?No
High-beam assist?No
Overall rating
Distance at which headlights provide at least 5 lux illumination:
car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler 0 ft 100 ft 200 ft 300 ft 400 ft 500 ft 600 ft Low beams Optimal low-beam illumination High beams Optimal high-beam illumination

Low beams
On the straightaway, visibility was good on both sides of the road. On curves, visibility was fair in all 4 tests.

The low beams never exceeded glare limits.

High beams
On the straightaway, visibility was good on the right side of the road and fair on the left side. On curves, visibility was fair on the gradual right curve and inadequate on the sharp right and both left curves.

Technical measurements for this test
Trim level(s)
  • All trims
Low-beam headlight type LED projector
High-beam headlight type LED projector
Curve-adaptive? No
High-beam assist? No
Overall rating
Applies to 2017-18 models
LOW BEAMS Average minimum useful
illumination distance (5 lux)		 Amount glare
exceeded threshold
Straightaway right edge 93.0 m None
Straightaway left edge 59.8 m None
250m radius right curve, right edge 63.1 m None
250m radius left curve, left edge 56.2 m None
150m radius right curve, right edge 50.1 m None
150m radius left curve, left edge 54.5 m None
HIGH BEAMS Average minimum useful
illumination distance (5 lux)
Straightaway right edge 160.1 m
Straightaway left edge 137.3 m
250m radius right curve, right edge 73.8 m
250m radius left curve, left edge 64.0 m
150m radius right curve, right edge 53.3 m
150m radius left curve, left edge 53.2 m

About the headlight evaluation

Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle

System details

  • Optional Collision Mitigation Braking System

Package name

  • Optional Advance Package

Overall evaluation

Applies to 2016-18 models

Superior
Superior
with optional equipment
  • This system meets the requirements for forward collision warning.
  • In the 12 mph test, impact speed was reduced by 11 mph.
  • In the 25 mph test, impact speed was reduced by 16 mph.

About the original front crash prevention test

Child seat anchors

Rating applies to 2016-18 models

Overall evaluation
Vehicle trimbase
Seat type leather

This vehicle has 2 rear seating positions with complete child seat attachment (LATCH) hardware.

It has 1 additional seating position with a tether anchor only.

Overall evaluation
Vehicle trimbase
Seat type leather
1 2 3
GGood
AAcceptable
MMarginal
PPoor
Seating positions that rely on borrowed lower anchors or have only a tether anchor available are not rated.
thether anchor symbol
Tether anchor
lower anchor symbol
Lower anchors
shared lower achors symbol
Lower anchor(s) can be borrowed from adjacent positions(s)
No hardware available

Details by seating position

1
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
too deep in seat
not too much force needed to attach
easy to maneuver around anchors
2
Tether anchor
hard-to-find location
no other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
none available
3
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
too deep in seat
not too much force needed to attach
easy to maneuver around anchors
Technical measurements for this test

Seat position 21

3

Lower anchor A
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 4-6
Force (lbs) 12
Clearance angle (degrees) 62
Lower anchor B
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 4-6
Force (lbs) 18
Clearance angle (degrees) 58
Tether anchor
Location Middle seatback
Confusing hardware present Yes
Has contrasting label
within 3 inches of tether anchor		 No
Tether anchors can be accessed
while seatback is properly positioned
for use of LATCH		 Not measured

Seat position 22

2

Lower anchor A
No lower latch for this seat position
Lower anchor B
No lower latch for this seat position
Tether anchor
Location Roof
Confusing hardware present No
Has contrasting label
within 3 inches of tether anchor		 No
Tether anchors can be accessed
while seatback is properly positioned
for use of LATCH		 Not measured

Seat position 23

1

Lower anchor A
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 6-8
Force (lbs) 24
Clearance angle (degrees) 58
Lower anchor B
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 4-6
Force (lbs) 18
Clearance angle (degrees) 56
Tether anchor
Location Middle seatback
Confusing hardware present Yes
Has contrasting label
within 3 inches of tether anchor		 No
Tether anchors can be accessed
while seatback is properly positioned
for use of LATCH		 Not measured

Rating applies to 2016-18 models

Overall evaluation
Vehicle trimAcuraWatch Plus
Seat type leather

This vehicle has 2 rear seating positions with complete child seat attachment (LATCH) hardware.

It has 1 additional seating position with a tether anchor only.

Overall evaluation
Vehicle trimAcuraWatch Plus
Seat type leather
1 2 3
GGood
AAcceptable
MMarginal
PPoor
Seating positions that rely on borrowed lower anchors or have only a tether anchor available are not rated.
thether anchor symbol
Tether anchor
lower anchor symbol
Lower anchors
shared lower achors symbol
Lower anchor(s) can be borrowed from adjacent positions(s)
No hardware available

Details by seating position

1
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
too deep in seat
not too much force needed to attach
difficult to maneuver around anchors
2
Tether anchor
hard-to-find location
no other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
none available
3
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
too deep in seat
not too much force needed to attach
easy to maneuver around anchors
Technical measurements for this test

Seat position 21

3

Lower anchor A
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 6-8
Force (lbs) 7
Clearance angle (degrees) 58
Lower anchor B
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 6-8
Force (lbs) 8
Clearance angle (degrees) 58
Tether anchor
Location Middle seatback
Confusing hardware present Yes
Has contrasting label
within 3 inches of tether anchor		 No
Tether anchors can be accessed
while seatback is properly positioned
for use of LATCH		 Not measured

Seat position 22

2

Lower anchor A
No lower latch for this seat position
Lower anchor B
No lower latch for this seat position
Tether anchor
Location Roof
Confusing hardware present No
Has contrasting label
within 3 inches of tether anchor		 No
Tether anchors can be accessed
while seatback is properly positioned
for use of LATCH		 Not measured

Seat position 23

1

Lower anchor A
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 6-8
Force (lbs) 8
Clearance angle (degrees) 51
Lower anchor B
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 6-8
Force (lbs) 9
Clearance angle (degrees) 54
Tether anchor
Location Middle seatback
Confusing hardware present Yes
Has contrasting label
within 3 inches of tether anchor		 No
Tether anchors can be accessed
while seatback is properly positioned
for use of LATCH		 Not measured

About the child seat anchor evaluation