Acura Advance.

Passive Safety

Protection at the heart of design.

Using a wide range of safety technologies, Acura builds protection into every car we manufacture. The first line of defense in collision safety lies in the structure of the car itself. Acura's Advanced Compatibility Engineering™ (ACE™) and unit-body construction are both engineered to absorb crash energy and offer protection to the cabin and its passengers. Indeed, when ACE was first introduced in the 2005 RL, it was the only model out of the 18 vehicles in its class that year to achieve the maximum "five star" rating for frontal and side crash impact protection and roll-over resistance by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and only the third vehicle in history to receive such high honors. Every Acura model redesigned since 2005 was built with ACE, and every one of them that has been tested by NHTSA received five-star ratings on every frontal impact test. The only current vehicles awaiting NHTSA testing are the 2010 MDX (side impact) and ZDX (front and side impact, and roll-over resistance); all other Acura vehicles are “five-star safety” rated by NHTSA, earning top marks on all front and side impact tests. But ACE wasn’t developed just to gather NHTSA stars. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts a different set of impact tests, and often what works for NHTSA can lead to detrimental results for IIHS. Nevertheless, through 2010 every Acura model tested by IIHS earned its highest rating of “Good” on all frontal-offset, side and rear impact tests, and Acura expects that when testing of the 2010 model line up is completed, the same will hold true for that model year as well.

Inside Acura’s well-protected passenger cabins, advanced dual-stage, multiple threshold front air bags, front side air bags, and side curtain air bags join forces with the passenger-side Occupant Position Detection System (OPDS) to help keep you safe and secure when trouble becomes inevitable—while helping protect children from air bag-related injuries. Acura models are also equipped with breakaway steering columns and front seat active head restraints that use the force of the occupants’ body to position the head restraint forward and upward in a rear-end collision in order to help reduce the likelihood of neck injuries. The unrelenting desire to help keep you safe and secure drives Acura to create safety technologies that are as innovative as they are effective.