Audi A3 crash tested in the US. Named "Top pick"
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has awarded the Audi A3 as "Top Safety Pick". The A3 scored very well in the tests preformed at the IIHS, which shows that small cars don't have to be unsafe. Other Audi models in the US such as the A4 and the A6 have already been awarded with the top safety rating.
According to Audi, the A3 outdid in the frontal, rear and side crash test. What I found very interesting from the press release is how the side crash test is defined: "vehicles are struck from the side by a moving barrier at a speed of 31 mph (50 km/h). The barrier is shaped to resemble the front end of a pick-up or SUV."
Full press release after the jump.
[Sourci: Audi USA]
The well-known Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in the USA has now also awarded the sporty, compact Audi A3 its highest rating of "Top Safety Pick". This makes Audi the only German manufacturer to have three award-winning models in its ranks: the Audi A4 and A6 have already been honoured with this top safety rating in the past.
The IIHS regularly carries out crash tests on behalf of the US insurance industry on passenger vehicles of all kinds to establish their safety standard. Experts and car buyers alike, both within and outside the USA, pay close attention to the results.
The latest outstanding result for the Audi A3 is the outcome of a frontal, rear and side crash test which the A3, like the A4 and A6 before it, completed in the USA. The side impact test is a particularly challenging part of the IIHS crash test series. In this test, vehicles are struck from the side by a moving barrier at a speed of 31 mph (50 km/h). The barrier is shaped to resemble the front end of a pick-up or SUV. Structural deformation as well as the kinematics and stresses to which passengers are subjected are then evaluated. The outstandingly low loads measured are thanks to the car's rigid body and standard restraint systems, including the sideguard head airbag.
The IIHS also evaluates the risk of neck injuries in a rear impact. Thanks to the optimised design of the seat structure, seat components and above all the geometry and position of the head restraints, Audi models score top marks in this discipline. Having an electronic stabilisation program (ESP) as standard also has a positive effect on the rating – and this is indeed the case for all Audi vehicles.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mike 6:35PM (11/17/2007)
Great, but, we won't be getting any high mpg models here in the US, great for Europa.
Reply
Dad 5:18PM (11/18/2007)
Very deceptive comment. If and when this A3 gets hit by a car in a heavier weight class then the results will be ugly. If an A3 hits another A3 (or a vehicle in it's weight class) the IIHS results mean something. If this A3 gets hit by a Toyota Tundra, the results mean nothing.
Bob
Reply
Nils 11:12AM (11/19/2007)
right, so let's all drive Tundras and the road will be much safer.
Reply
kballs 2:43PM (11/19/2007)
Yeah for the side-impact test the moving barrier is only shaped like an SUV, it doesn't weigh the same as an average SUV (the barrier is only 3300lbs)... they really should increase the weight to 4500-5000lbs to give us a better idea of crash performance in the worser case scenarios... of course it's hard to test absolute worst case scenarios (100+mph impacts, hit by a locomotive, run over by a jacked-up F-250, etc.), and not that meaningful since it's hard to build a vehicle to withstand those scenarios, but they should at least test impacts with the larger average vehicle mass.
Reply