Top Safety Pick + Top Safety Pick criteria

2015 Audi A3

midsize luxury car / 4-door sedan

Award applies only to vehicles with optional front crash prevention

2015 Audi A3 4-door sedan

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Small overlap front: driver-side
Small overlap front: passenger-side
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
Roof strength
Head restraints & seats

Crash avoidance & mitigation

Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle
Optional system
Advanced

Other available safety features

  • Standard daytime running lights
  • Optional blind spot detection
  • Optional lane departure warning
  • Optional lane departure prevention

Key

  • G
    Good
  • A
    Acceptable
  • M
    Marginal
  • P
    Poor
  • Superior
  • Advanced
  • Basic

Some ratings use a scale of Poor to Good. Others range from Basic to Superior.

Small overlap front: driver-side

Rating applies to 2015-20 models

Tested vehicle: 2015 Audi A3 1.8T Premium 4-door

The Audi A3 was redesigned for the 2015 model year after a one-year absence from the market.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics

Action shot taken during the driver-side small overlap frontal crash test.

The dummy's position in relation to the door frame, steering wheel, and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space was maintained well.

The frontal and side curtain airbags worked well together to keep the head from coming close to any stiff structure or outside objects that could cause injury.

Intrusion into the driver's space was minimal, and risk of injuries to the dummy's legs and feet was low.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEN1413
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 13
Footrest (cm) 7
Left toepan (cm) 4
Brake pedal (cm) 1
Parking brake (cm)
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 2
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column 0
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 6
Upper dash (cm) 7
Lower instrument panel (cm) 6

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEN1413
Head
HIC-15 103
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.1
Extension bending moment (Nm) 11
Maximum Nij 0.27
Chest maximum compression (mm) 25
Femur (kN)
Left 1.4
Right 0.0
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 1
Right 0
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 0
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.62
Right 0.66
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 3.8
Right 1.1
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 75
Right 35

How the driver-side small overlap front test is conducted

Small overlap front: passenger-side

Rating applies to 2015-20 models

Tested vehicle: 2016 Audi A3 2.0T Premium quattro 4-door 4wd

The Audi A3 was redesigned for the 2015 model year after a one-year absence from the market. Passenger-side small overlap frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Volkswagen/Audi as part of frontal crash test verification.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Passenger injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Passenger restraints and dummy kinematics
The dummy’s head contacted the frontal airbag but started to move toward the right side, leaving the head vulnerable to contact with forward structure. The side curtain airbag deployed and has sufficient forward coverage to protect the head from contact with side structure and outside objects.
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on passenger side

Test ID VTP1813
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 14
Footrest (cm) 15
Right toepan (cm) 6
Center toepan (cm) 3
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 0
Upper occupant compartment
Center dash (cm) 4
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 6
Upper dash (cm) 7
Right lower dash (cm) 6

Passenger injury measures

Test ID VTP1813
Head
HIC-15 95
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.2
Extension bending moment (Nm) 29
Maximum Nij 0.30
Chest maximum compression (mm) 19
Femur (kN)
Left 1.2
Right 1.4
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 3
Right 2
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 0
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.41
Right 0.27
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 1.5
Right 1.8
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 73
Right 40

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTP1813
Head
HIC-15 153
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.9
Extension bending moment (Nm) 8
Maximum Nij 0.21
Chest maximum compression (mm) 24
Femur (kN)
Left 0.1
Right 0.1
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 1
Right 1
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 0
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.33
Right 0.22
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 0.3
Right 0.8
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 45
Right 31

How the passenger-side small overlap front test is conducted

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2015-20 models

Tested vehicle: 2015 Audi A3 1.8T Premium 4-door

The Audi A3 was redesigned for the 2015 model year after a one-year absence from the market. Moderate overlap frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Volkswagen/Audi as part of frontal crash test verification.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Leg/foot, left
Leg/foot, right
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTF1321
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 3
Left (cm) 4
Center (cm) 6
Right (cm) 2
Brake pedal (cm) 4
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) -1
Right (cm) -1
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) -1
Rearward (cm) -6
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 0

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTF1321
Head
HIC-15 212
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.4
Extension bending moment (Nm) 10
Maximum Nij 0.25
Chest maximum compression (mm) 31
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 1.4
Femur force - right (kN) 1.5
Knee displacement - left (mm) 1
Knee displacement - right (mm) 2
Maximum tibia index - left 0.36
Maximum tibia index - right 0.39
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 2.9
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 3.7
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 68
Right 31

How the moderate overlap front test is conducted

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2015-20 models

Tested vehicle: 2015 Audi A3 1.8T Premium 4-door with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Audi A3 was redesigned for the 2015 model year after a one-year absence from the market. Side ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Volkswagen/Audi as part of side crash test verification.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Driver head protection
Rear passenger injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Rear passenger head protection
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTS1314
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -17.0
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTS1314
Head HIC-15 503
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.3
Compression (kN) 0.1
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 43
Lateral force (kN) 1.5
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 41
Average deflection (mm) 40
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.84
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.82
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 3.3
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.4
Combined force (kN) 5.2
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 1.1
L-M moment (Nm) 134
A-P moment (Nm) 72

Passenger injury measures

Test ID VTS1314
Head HIC-15 165
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.4
Compression (kN) 0.3
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 38
Lateral force (kN) 1.5
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 33
Average deflection (mm) 28
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 5.12
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.80
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.3
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.4
Combined force (kN) 2.5
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.6
L-M moment (Nm) 98
A-P moment (Nm) 70

How the side crash test is conducted

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2015-23 models

Tested vehicle: 2015 Audi A3 1.8T Premium 4-door

Overall evaluation
Curb weight 3,116 lbs
Peak force 19,325 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio 6.20

How the roof strength test is conducted

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Power leather seat

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Power leather seat
Geometry
Backset (mm) 22
Distance below top of head (mm) 13
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 14.5
Head contact time (ms) 54
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 0
Max neck tension (N) 389

How the head restraint & seat test is conducted
Currently, IIHS tests apply only to front seats.

Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle

System details

  • Optional Audi Pre Sense Front

Package name

  • Optional Technology Package

Overall evaluation

Applies to 2015-16 models

Advanced
Advanced
with optional equipment
  • This system meets the requirements for forward collision warning.
  • In the 12 mph test, this vehicle avoided a collision.
  • In the 25 mph test, this vehicle failed to slow.

How front crash prevention is evaluated

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