2004 Audi A4

midsize luxury car / 4-door sedan

2004 Audi A4 4-door sedan
2002 Audi A4 shown

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Moderate overlap front: original test
Head restraints & seats

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.

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2002-08 models built after February 2002

Tested vehicle: 2002 Audi A4 1.8T quattro 4-door 4wd

The Audi A4 was redesigned for the 2002 model year. Audi A4s manufactured after February 2002 include structural changes to improve occupant protection in frontal crashes. (Note: Information about when a specific vehicle was manufactured is on the certification label typically affixed to the car on or near the driver door.)

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has evaluated the crashworthiness of a 2002 A4 with the structural changes in a 40 mph frontal offset crash test into a deformable barrier.

The frontal offset crash test ratings also apply to the station wagon version of the A4, known as the A4 Avant, beginning with 2002 models manufactured after February 2002.

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

Action shot taken during the frontal offset crash test.

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

Smeared greasepaint indicates where the dummy's head hit the roof rail during rebound. Head acceleration from this hit was low.

Intrusion into the driver's space was minimal, and all leg and foot injury measures were low.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEF0216
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 4
Left (cm) 6
Center (cm) 5
Right (cm) 3
Brake pedal (cm) 10
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 2
Right (cm) 3
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 4
Rearward (cm) 1
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 1

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEF0216
Head
HIC-15 145
Peak gs at hard contact 38
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.0
Extension bending moment (Nm) 26
Maximum Nij 0.43
Chest maximum compression (mm) 29
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 3.3
Femur force - right (kN) 3.6
Knee displacement - left (mm) 10
Knee displacement - right (mm) 1
Maximum tibia index - left 0.71
Maximum tibia index - right 0.75
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 1.8
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 2.1
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 58
Right 64

How the moderate overlap front test is conducted

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Seats that adjust manually built before Nov 2004

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Seats that adjust manually mfg before Nov 2004
Geometry
Backset (mm) 42
Distance below top of head (mm) 60
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Fail
Max T1 acceleration (g) 12.9
Head contact time (ms) 88
Force rating 3
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 247
Max neck tension (N) 905

Seat type: Seats with power adjustment built before Nov 2004

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Seats with power adjustment mfg before Nov 2004
Geometry
Backset (mm) 52
Distance below top of head (mm) 62
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Fail
Max T1 acceleration (g) 12.9
Head contact time (ms) 92
Force rating 3
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 296
Max neck tension (N) 1,075

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