The 2022 Acura MDX SUV’s Top Safety Pick (TSP) from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety runs counter to all the racing around done in Acura’s commercials. The MDX is the automaker’s third vehicle to receive the IIHS’s highest safety rating, along with the RDX and TLX.
Rated tops for crashworthiness, the MDX was superior in collision-mitigating braking systems, and standard for headlights. MDX has the same safety and driver-assistive technology found on all Acura sedans and SUVs.
Adaptive cruise control is paired with road-departure alleviation, for those ever-so-brief moments when you nod off behind the wheel.
In the event you do go off-roading unintentionally, the Acura MDX SUV’s advanced body structure has the nod from the IIHS for its occupant protection and ability to spread the crash energy. Having had the misfortune of paying for a 5-mile-per-hour frontal collision a few years ago, the ability to spread crash energy has nothing to do with the cost of replacing the front fascia.
Acura’s LED headlights received best-in-class ratings to go along with the TSP designation. Crashworthiness is the big deal, as the vehicle needs to hold up in every test thrown at it, including crashing into the passenger side. The IIHS should consider repair costs, as in what it takes to fix the damage.
TSP front crash protection must be up to advanced or superior standards, for both SUV-to-SUV, or vehicle-to-pedestrian. Thinking about this last test, do they use a crash test dummy? Running into a pedestrian, the MDX’s condition would not be a concern.
MullenLowe, the ad agency who coined Acura’s current tagline, “Less talk. More drive.” must find the IIHS’s endorsement somewhat amusing as it goes against the high-performing imagery they’re putting out there. Seems the agency thought the public had forgotten about Acura, and it was important to wake them up.
[Images: Acura]
>>The 2022 Acura MDX SUV’s Top Safety Pick (TSP) from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety runs counter to all the racing around done in Acura’s commercials.<<
not really
high performance is not the opposite of safe
and vice versa
accolades to Acura for showing they can go hand in hand
Except that the larger 3rd row seated Cadillac XT6 beats the 2022 MDX by about a second in Motor Trend handling course. The XT6 also gets TSP+ and tops MDX with 310 hp!
But it still looks indistinguishable from a government-fleet Traverse LS at 20 feet.
Which Cadillac made today looks like Chevy? When was the last time your eyes were checked?
I’ve often referred to my large tires and uprated brakes as safety features, not performance. When that texting minivan (or face-timing) person changes lanes without looking, no one cares about HP
I prefer to die in Cadillac XT6.
If this is your intent, best bet is to ride in low-light conditions in a child safety seat (per IIHS):
https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle/cadillac/xt6-4-door-suv/2021
So the XT6’s structural performance ratings are derived from the Acadia’s. And I thought the automotive media was being too hard on Cadillac for sourcing the XT6 from its mainstream brethren. . .
Unfortunately I outgrew child safety seat. But thank you for advice. There is higher chance to die when sitting in front seat than in the back seat.
Here is *driver* death rate per million registered vehicle years [years not miles]:
https://www.iihs.org/ratings/driver-death-rates-by-make-and-model
Latest data available is 2017. (Death rate is expressed as confidence interval.) If you insist on dying at the wheel of a “midsize” “luxury SUV” (select the appropriate dropdowns), allow plenty of time [or alternatively, drive very differently than the typical driver of these vehicles].
Die in the Miata. Easy death.
I think it is easier to turn over XT6 than Miata. Or am I wrong?
This is news?
Oh and that interior isn’t looking too good in whorehouse red and black. Really does resemble some one off MY trim in a late 80s Cadillac.
“This is news?”
Yes, it is a breaking news. MDX always was a deathtrap.
“The IIHS should consider repair costs, as in what it takes to fix the damage.”
The issue here is safety of passengers and not repair cost. The more energy the car absorbs during the crush the less energy the passengers absorb. The cost of fixing people (or disabling them) is exponentially higher than fixing or totaling a car. I do agree though that a car should not sustain major damage in 5 mile collision.
+1.
Didn’t Bricklin (or someone) try making cars safe with huge rubber bumpers back i the pre-crumple-zone days?
They’d rather raise lighting standards so they require $2,000/housing headlights to get a high rating.
Well, experience with a current Active Headlamp System has shown me that US headlight regs are still in the past…headlights are an afterthought for most cars in the US….but outside the US, there’s some radical technology in use.