2008 Acura TL
midsize luxury car / 4-door sedan
Moderate overlap front: original test
Rating applies to 2004-08 models
Tested vehicle: 2004 Acura TL 4-door
The Acura TL was redesigned for the 2004 model year. Its base price has increased sufficiently to reclassify it as a midsize luxury car. (The 1999-2003 TL was classified as a midsize moderately priced car.)
| Evaluation criteria | Rating |
|---|---|
| Overall evaluation | |
| Structure and safety cage | |
| Driver injury measures | |
| Head/neck | |
| Chest | |
| Leg/foot, left | |
| Leg/foot, right | |
| Driver restraints and dummy kinematics | |
Action shot taken during the frontal offset crash test.
The dummy's position in relation to the steering wheel and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space was maintained very well.
Dummy movement was well controlled. During rebound, the dummy's head hit only the head restraint, as indicated by smeared greasepaint.
Intrusion into the driver's space was minimal, and forces on the legs and feet were low.
Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side
| Evaluation criteria | Measurement |
|---|---|
| Test ID | CEF0404 |
| Footwell intrusion | |
| Footrest (cm) | 6 |
| Left (cm) | 8 |
| Center (cm) | 8 |
| Right (cm) | 5 |
| Brake pedal (cm) | 4 |
| Instrument panel rearward movement | |
| Left (cm) | 1 |
| Right (cm) | 0 |
| Steering column movement | |
| Upward (cm) | 3 |
| Rearward (cm) | -1 |
| A-pillar rearward movement (cm) | 1 |
Driver injury measures
| Evaluation criteria | Measurement |
|---|---|
| Test ID | CEF0404 |
| Head | |
| HIC-15 | 159 |
| Peak gs at hard contact | no contact |
| Neck | |
| Tension (kN) | 1.0 |
| Extension bending moment (Nm) | 12 |
| Maximum Nij | 0.20 |
| Chest maximum compression (mm) | 32 |
| Legs | |
| Femur force - left (kN) | 0.3 |
| Femur force - right (kN) | 1.8 |
| Knee displacement - left (mm) | 0 |
| Knee displacement - right (mm) | 1 |
| Maximum tibia index - left | 0.40 |
| Maximum tibia index - right | 0.52 |
| Tibia axial force - left (kN) | 1.6 |
| Tibia axial force - right (kN) | 2.8 |
| Foot acceleration (g) | |
| Left | 62 |
| Right | 42 |
Side: original test
Rating applies to 2004-08 models
Tested vehicle: 2004 Acura TL 4-door with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags
The Acura TL was redesigned for the 2004 model year.
| Evaluation criteria | Rating |
|---|---|
| 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 | |
View of the vehicle and barrier just after the crash test.
View of the vehicle after the crash with doors removed, showing the side airbags and damage to the occupant compartment.
Action shot taken during the side impact crash test showing the driver dummy's head was protected from being hit by hard structures by the side curtain airbag.
Smeared greasepaint shows where the rear passenger dummy's head was protected by the side airbag.
Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side
| Test ID | CES0410 |
|---|---|
| B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) | -6.5 |
| Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline. | |
Driver injury measures
| Evaluation criteria | Measurement |
|---|---|
| Test ID | CES0410 |
| Head HIC-15 | 461 |
| Neck | |
| Tension (kN) | 0.9 |
| Compression (kN) | 0.4 |
| Shoulder | |
| Lateral deflection (mm) | 39 |
| Lateral force (kN) | 2.0 |
| Torso | |
| Maximum deflection (mm) | 46 |
| Average deflection (mm) | 41 |
| Maximum deflection rate (m/s) | 5.00 |
| Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) | 0.95 |
| Pelvis | |
| Iliac force (kN) | 2.7 |
| Acetabulum force (kN) | 3.3 |
| Combined force (kN) | 5.0 |
| Left femur | |
| L-M force (kN) | 0.9 |
| L-M moment (Nm) | 103 |
| A-P moment (Nm) | 53 |
Passenger injury measures
| Evaluation criteria | Measurement |
|---|---|
| Test ID | CES0410 |
| Head HIC-15 | 251 |
| Neck | |
| Tension (kN) | 0.7 |
| Compression (kN) | 0.3 |
| Shoulder | |
| Lateral deflection (mm) | 25 |
| Lateral force (kN) | 1.0 |
| Torso | |
| Maximum deflection (mm) | 26 |
| Average deflection (mm) | 20 |
| Maximum deflection rate (m/s) | 4.02 |
| Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) | 0.41 |
| Pelvis | |
| Iliac force (kN) | 0.1 |
| Acetabulum force (kN) | 0.5 |
| Combined force (kN) | 0.5 |
| Left femur | |
| L-M force (kN) | 1.9 |
| L-M moment (Nm) | 215 |
| A-P moment (Nm) | 28 |
Head restraints & seats
Seat type: All seats
| Overall evaluation | |
|---|---|
| Dynamic rating | |
| Seat/head restraint geometry |
| Seat type | All seats |
|---|---|
| Geometry | |
| Backset (mm) | 55 |
| Distance below top of head (mm) | 42 |
| Seat design parameters | |
| Pass/fail | Pass |
| Max T1 acceleration (g) | 9.5 |
| Head contact time (ms) | 106 |
| Force rating | 3 |
| Neck forces | |
| Max neck shear force (N) | 250 |
| Max neck tension (N) | 882 |
About the head restraint & seat test
Currently, IIHS tests apply only to front seats.