2011 Buick Lucerne

large car / 4-door sedan

2011 Buick Lucerne 4-door sedan
2006 Buick Lucerne shown

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Moderate overlap front: original test
G
Side: original test
A
Head restraints & seats
M

Other available safety features

  • Optional blind spot detection
  • Optional lane departure warning

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.

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2006-11 models

Tested vehicle: 2006 Buick Lucerne CXL 4-door

The Buick Lucerne was introduced in the 2006 model year as a replacement for the Buick LeSabre and Park Avenue. The Cadillac DTS was introduced in the 2006 model year as a replacement for the Cadillac DeVille.

Two moderate overlap frontal tests of the Lucerne were conducted, one by the Institute and the other by General Motors. Ratings are based on both tests.

Evaluation criteria Rating
Overall evaluation
G
Structure and safety cage
G
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
G
Chest
G
Leg/foot, left
G
Leg/foot, right
A
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
G

Action shot taken during the Institute's moderate overlap frontal 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 well (Institute test car shown).

Dummy movement was well controlled in both tests. During rebound, the dummy's head hit only the head restraint, as indicated by smeared greasepaint.

Forces on the lower right leg were high enough to indicate the possibility of injury in the Institute's test (shown). In GM's test, forces on both lower legs were sufficiently high to indicate the possibility of injuries.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Evaluation criteria Measurement
Test ID CEF0603 VTF0504
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 4 6
Left (cm) 14 14
Center (cm) 14 15
Right (cm) 14 13
Brake pedal (cm) 5 7
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 0 1
Right (cm) 0 0
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 0 0
Rearward (cm) -1 0
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 0 0

Driver injury measures

Evaluation criteria Measurement
Test ID CEF0603 VTF0504
Head
HIC-15 297 170
Peak gs at hard contact no contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.8 0.8
Extension bending moment (Nm) 10 9
Maximum Nij 0.35 0.15
Chest maximum compression (mm) 33 35
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 1.2 0.7
Femur force - right (kN) 3.0 2.8
Knee displacement - left (mm) 0 0
Knee displacement - right (mm) 0 0
Maximum tibia index - left 0.35 0.85
Maximum tibia index - right 0.79 1.10
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 2.3 3.8
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 4.2 4.2
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 103 121
Right 61 64

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2006-11 models

Tested vehicle: 2006 Buick Lucerne CXL 4-door with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Buick Lucerne was introduced in the 2006 model year as a replacement for the Buick LeSabre and Park Avenue. The Cadillac DTS was introduced in the 2006 model year as a replacement for the Cadillac DeVille.

Evaluation criteria Rating
Overall evaluation
A
Structure and safety cage
M
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
G
Torso
G
Pelvis/leg
A
Driver head protection
G
Rear passenger injury measures
Head/neck
G
Torso
G
Pelvis/leg
G
Rear passenger head protection
G

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

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CES0616
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -3.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Evaluation criteria Measurement
Test ID CES0616
Head HIC-15 407
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.5
Compression (kN) 0.0
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 43
Lateral force (kN) 2.4
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 38
Average deflection (mm) 32
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 4.53
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.81
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 3.7
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.2
Combined force (kN) 5.8
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.4
L-M moment (Nm) 61
A-P moment (Nm) 45

Passenger injury measures

Evaluation criteria Measurement
Test ID CES0616
Head HIC-15 220
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.4
Compression (kN) 0.3
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 27
Lateral force (kN) 1.3
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 31
Average deflection (mm) 24
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 2.69
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.35
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.7
Acetabulum force (kN) 4.0
Combined force (kN) 4.4
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 1.0
L-M moment (Nm) 98
A-P moment (Nm) 35

About the original side crash test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Power leather seats

Overall evaluation
M
Dynamic rating
M
Seat/head restraint geometry
G
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Power leather seats
Geometry
Backset (mm) 32
Distance below top of head (mm) 59
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Fail
Max T1 acceleration (g) 11.2
Head contact time (ms) 88
Force rating 2
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 150
Max neck tension (N) 621

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