Understanding the Revolutionary Front Passenger Airbag in the 2021 Acura TLX

Through its luxury division Acura, the Japanese carmaker has built a legacy of pioneering efforts in vehicle safety. For example, in 1990, they created the world’s first vertically deploying front passenger airbag on the Legend sedan. It reduced the potential injuries that could occur because of ‘traditional’ airbags that deploy directly into the passenger.

The all-new TLX continues this legacy, introducing the world’s first front passenger airbag designed to reduce the risk of severe brain trauma associated with angled frontal collisions.

Acura states that the focus of development was to build an innovative airbag that can efficiently handle lateral collision forces. These can cause the passenger’s head to rotate severely at high velocity or slide off a conventional airbag, increasing the potential for serious injuries.

The research was based on the new BrIC (Brain Injury Criteria) methodology for measuring brain injuries in vehicle collisions, which was recently established after the completion of a comprehensive study of brain injuries conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Unlike the single inflatable chamber of conventional airbags, the revolutionary new system “operates something like a baseball catcher’s mitt”, Acura tells us.

It features three inflated compartments containing a central chamber and two outward-projecting side chambers that create an uninflated ‘sail panel’ stretching between them.

In the event of a collision, the uninflated panel catches and decelerates the occupant’s head while also directing it inward, between the two inflated chambers to cradle and protect the head.

Like the vertically deploying airbag introduced twenty years ago, this next-generation technology co-developed by Honda R&D Americas and safety systems supplier Autoliv will be made available to other automakers in an effort to enhance safety for all future vehicles out there.

Additionally, the new TLX now includes knee airbags for the driver and front passenger. In conjunction with the front airbags and seatbelts, they are designed to control the forward motion of the occupants in the case of a frontal collision.

Each airbag is enclosed beneath a panel on the underside of the instrument panel, which is designed to provide improved legroom.

The car is equipped with a total of eight airbags, the most ever for the model. The suite includes front, side, and knee airbags for the driver and front passenger, with additional side-curtain airbags with a rollover sensor.

Moreover, the new model is developed using the next generation of Acura’s proprietary Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE) body structure. It enhances occupant protection in the event of a frontal collision by using a series of interconnected structural elements that absorb and distribute crash energy away from the passenger compartment. The central floor tunnel is made of high-strength steel and connects to the lower front bulkhead. This innovative structure channels crash loads into and through the tunnel instead of the passenger compartment.

Much of the safety development and testing of the 2021 Acura TLX, including this revolutionary new airbag technology, was performed at the advanced safety research center of Honda R&D Americas, LLC in Raymond, Ohio. This center is one of the most sophisticated facilities for safety research, development, and testing in the world.

The 2021 model of Acura’s midsize luxury sedan is available in dealerships with prices starting at $38,525, with the manufacturer describing it as the best-handling and safest sedan built in the brand's 35-year history.