2014 Acura TSX

midsize luxury car / 4-door sedan

Crashworthiness

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

Crash avoidance & mitigation

Evaluation criteria	Rating
Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle	Not available

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 2009-14 models

Tested vehicle: 2012 Acura TSX 4-door

The Acura TSX was redesigned for the 2009 model year. The small overlap front test ratings also apply to the station wagon version of the TSX, known as the TSX Sport Wagon, beginning with 2011 models.

Two tests of the TSX were conducted because the onboard (car interior) cameras failed during the first test. Also in the first test, the driver side curtain and side thorax airbags deployed, but they did not in the second test. Honda subsequently provided data showing that the side airbags are close to their deployment threshold under the small overlap test conditions. The restraints and dummy kinematics rating is based on the second test. Injury and structural ratings are based on both tests.

Evaluation criteria	Rating

Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics In the second test, the dummy’s head contacted the frontal airbag but slid off the left side, leaving the head vulnerable to contact with forward side structure. The side curtain airbag did not deploy, also leaving the dummy’s head vulnerable to contact with side structure and outside objects.

Action shot taken during the second of two small overlap frontal crash tests.

The dummy's position in relation to the door frame, steering wheel, and instrument panel indicates that the driver's survival space was not maintained well (second test without side airbag deployment).

In the second test, the dummy’s head contacted the frontal airbag but then slid off the left side as the steering column moved to the right. The side curtain airbag did not deploy.

Intrusion by the door hinge pillar and instrument panel contributed to a high risk of injury to the dummy's left lower leg.

Technical measurements for this test

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CEN1202	CEN1213
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm)	25	21
Footrest (cm)	13	11
Left toepan (cm)	4	6
Brake pedal (cm)	6	9
Parking brake (cm)	0	0
Rocker panel lateral average (cm)	5	5
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column	2	5
Upper hinge pillar max (cm)	12	15
Upper dash (cm)	14	16
Lower instrument panel (cm)	18	15

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CEN1202	CEN1213
Head
HIC-15	77	116
Peak gs at hard contact	no contact	no contact
Neck
Tension (kN)	1.1	1.1
Extension bending moment (Nm)	12	8
Maximum Nij	0.23	0.24
Chest maximum compression (mm)	27	28
Femur (kN)
Left	3.7	3.0
Right	0.6	2.7
Knee displacement (mm)
Left	4	15
Right	1	0
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left	1	0
Right	0	0
Maximum tibia index
Left	1.31	1.21
Right	0.38	0.43
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left	3.3	3.2
Right	1.7	2.1
Foot acceleration (g)
Left	71	58
Right	55	60

About the small overlap front test

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2009-14 models

Tested vehicle: 2009 Acura TSX 4-door

The Acura TSX was redesigned for the 2009 model year. Frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Honda.

The frontal crash test ratings also apply to the station wagon version of the TSX, known as the TSX Sport Wagon, beginning with 2011 models.

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

Technical measurements for this test

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	VTF0804
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm)	2
Left (cm)	8
Center (cm)	8
Right (cm)	5
Brake pedal (cm)	3
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm)	0
Right (cm)	0
Steering column movement
Upward (cm)	0
Rearward (cm)	0
A-pillar rearward movement (cm)	0

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	VTF0804
Head
HIC-15	160
Peak gs at hard contact	no contact
Neck
Tension (kN)	0.8
Extension bending moment (Nm)	13
Maximum Nij	0.19
Chest maximum compression (mm)	29
Legs
Femur force - left (kN)	0.9
Femur force - right (kN)	0.8
Knee displacement - left (mm)	0
Knee displacement - right (mm)	0
Maximum tibia index - left	0.26
Maximum tibia index - right	0.46
Tibia axial force - left (kN)	1.4
Tibia axial force - right (kN)	2.2
Foot acceleration (g)
Left	63
Right	56

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2009-14 models

Tested vehicle: 2009 Acura TSX 4-door with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted side torso airbags

The Acura TSX was redesigned for the 2009 model year. The side impact crash test ratings also apply to the station wagon version of the TSX, known as the TSX Sport Wagon, beginning with 2011 models.

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.

Smeared greasepaint shows where 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.

Technical measurements for this test

Test ID	CES0826
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm)	-12.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CES0826
Head HIC-15	345
Neck
Tension (kN)	1.3
Compression (kN)	0.0
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm)	44
Lateral force (kN)	1.9
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm)	33
Average deflection (mm)	30
Maximum deflection rate (m/s)	2.83
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s)	0.51
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN)	2.6
Acetabulum force (kN)	2.1
Combined force (kN)	4.5
Left femur
L-M force (kN)	0.4
L-M moment (Nm)	126
A-P moment (Nm)	43

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CES0826
Head HIC-15	244
Neck
Tension (kN)	0.1
Compression (kN)	0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm)	39
Lateral force (kN)	1.6
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm)	32
Average deflection (mm)	29
Maximum deflection rate (m/s)	4.13
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s)	0.61
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN)	0.8
Acetabulum force (kN)	1.6
Combined force (kN)	2.3
Left femur
L-M force (kN)	0.2
L-M moment (Nm)	119
A-P moment (Nm)	-43

About the original side crash test

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2012-14 models

Tested vehicle: 2012 Acura TSX 4-door

Overall evaluation
Curb weight	3,634 lbs
Peak force	18,306 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio	5.04

About the roof strength test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Power leather seats with manual adjustable lumbar AHR

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry

Technical measurements for this test

Seat type	Power leather seats with manual adjustable lumbar AHR
Geometry
Backset (mm)	42
Distance below top of head (mm)	36
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail	Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g)	14.5
Head contact time (ms)	64
Force rating	1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N)	0
Max neck tension (N)	367

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