The Acura RLX, which is also known as the Honda Legend overseas, is the current flagship of Acura, the luxury division of Honda. Manufactured in Japan and released in 2013 for the model years 2014 onward, it’s designed to succeed the Acura RL, and comes with FWD and AWD versions like its full-sized luxury sedan competitors, including the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Audi A6, BMW 5 Series, Volvo S80, and Lexus GS, as well as its smaller twin, the Acura TLX.

Like the vehicles it competes with, the RLX hits the ground running with a range of top notch crash scores and safety features, including side airbags and ESC, as well as frontal crash protection in the latest models. In fact, it’s one of the few vehicles with superior levels of front crash protection as a default feature at every trim level, which is why I’ve ranked it among the very safest vehicles on the road in my Safety Level 4 threshold.

As a result,even if you aren’t an executive or business-type, the RLX is worth considering if you’re a parent interested in one of the safest sedans money can buy. As a result, I got up close and personal with the initial generation of the RLX to see just how car-seat friendly it would be for interested families.

Before looking at which car seats did and didn’t fit in the RLX in 3 across setups, it’s worth reviewing a bit of car safety, in terms of which kinds of seats to use and when.

For me, the most basic and essential part of car seat safety involves rear-facing. It’s the safest position we know of, and the longer our kids rear-face, the safer they’ll be, regardless of what kind of vehicle they travel in. I recommend keeping children in rear-facing infant or convertible seats as long as possible (ideally until 4!), then keeping them harnessed in forward-facing seats for several years more (ideally until 6, 7, or 8!), and then only switching them out of booster seats when they pass the 5 step test (which typically happens between 10 and 12). The goal is to keep kids in the safest kinds of seats for as long as possible to increase their odds of surviving serious car crashes.

With that all in mind, I got to work with my seats to create what I believe to be the most detailed 3 across guide for the Acura RLX on the Internet. If you find the list helpful when shopping for car seats, you can shop through my Amazon link below. I’ll add more seats as I test them over time.

You can access the complete 3 across guide for every vehicle here and the complete list of recommended seats here. The Canadian car seat guide is here. 3 across car seat images are taken by yours truly or are courtesy of Wikipedia.

The initial generation RLX is 196 inches long and just over 74 inches wide, which gives you a good amount of interior room to work with for many 3 across situations. Due to the substantial doors and padding in the RLX interior (for safety and comfort), the back row isn’t the widest, but it’s definitely wide enough as long as you’re willing to use your seat belts instead of LATCH for the installation. Remember that seat belts are as safe as LATCH, and in some cases, safer, depending on the weight limits of your car seats.

Because the RLX isn’t one of the longest vehicles out there as far as luxury sedans go, you might find yourself compromised on front-to-back space, especially if you’ve got taller drivers or passengers. If you’re interested in which safe seats take up the least space, you’ll definitely want to check out my front-to-back comparison chart for rear-facing convertibles.

—

If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.