For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Camry have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Acura ILX doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Camry are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The ILX doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Toyota Camry has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The ILX doesn’t offer knee airbags.
The Camry has a standard Secondary Collision Brake, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The ILX doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Camry XLE/XSE offers an optional Parking Support Brake that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The ILX doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Camry offers all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The ILX doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.
The Camry XLE/XSE offers an optional Bird’s Eye View Camera to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The ILX only offers a rear monitor.
Both the Camry and ILX offer rear cross-traffic warning, but the Camry XLE/XSE has Parking Support Brake (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The ILX’s Rear Cross Traffic Monitor doesn’t automatically brake.
Both the Camry and the ILX have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and available blind spot warning systems.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Toyota Camry is safer than the Acura ILX:
|
Camry |
ILX |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
140 |
227 |
Neck Injury Risk |
20% |
26% |
Neck Compression |
13 lbs. |
56 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
Neck Injury Risk |
21% |
40% |
Neck Stress |
136 lbs. |
166 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
266/310 lbs. |
768/623 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Toyota Camry is safer than the Acura ILX:
|
Camry |
ILX |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
134 |
234 |
Chest Movement |
.7 inches |
.9 inches |
Abdominal Force |
136 lbs. |
143 lbs. |
Hip Force |
296 lbs. |
487 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
289 |
324 |
Spine Acceleration |
48 G’s |
64 G’s |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
14 inches |
14 inches |
HIC |
164 |
299 |
Spine Acceleration |
35 G’s |
56 G’s |
Hip Force |
622 lbs. |
945 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, daytime pedestrian crash prevention, and nighttime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Camry its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 29 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The ILX last would have qualified as only a standard “Top Safety Pick” in 2017.