Two 2020-21 Audis earn IIHS safety awards

The 2020-21 Audi A4 sedan and A5 Sportback, both midsize luxury cars, earn Top Safety Pick awards from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety when equipped with specific headlights.

To qualify for a 2020 Top Safety Pick award, a vehicle must earn good ratings in six crashworthiness evaluations, including the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests. It also needs advanced or superior ratings for both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention and must offer acceptable- or good-rated headlights on at least one trim level.

The A4 and A5 both fell short of earning the higher-tier Top Safety Pick+ award, which requires good or acceptable headlights across the board.

The headlights that come with the Premium trim on both vehicles received a marginal rating due to inadequate illumination on curves. With good and acceptable headlights, respectively, the Prestige and Premium Plus trims qualify for Top Safety Pick.

Both the A4 and A5 come with standard front crash prevention systems that earn superior ratings in the Institute’s vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations.