Top Safety Pick

2009 Audi A4

midsize luxury car / 4-door sedan

Crashworthiness

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

Other available safety features

Optional blind spot detection

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 2009-16 models

Tested vehicle: 2012 Audi A4 2.0T Premium 4-door 2wd

The Audi A4 was redesigned for the 2009 model year. Two tests of the A4 were conducted because, in the first test, the vehicle's electrical system did not deploy the airbags due to a crash test preparation error. As a result, ratings for restraints and dummy kinematics and dummy injuries are based only on the second test. Structural ratings are based on both tests.

Evaluation criteria	Rating

Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics In the second test, the dummy’s head contacted the frontal airbag but slid off the left side as the steering column moved 18 cm to the right, leaving the head vulnerable to contact with forward structure and resulting in little airbag cushioning for the chest. The side curtain airbag deployed and had sufficient forward coverage to protect the head from contact with side structure and outside objects. The driver door opened during the crash, which shouldn't happen because the driver could be partly or completely ejected from the vehicle.

Action shot taken during the second of two small overlap frontal crash tests.

The dummy's position in relation to the door frame, steering wheel, and instrument panel after the crash test indicates the driver's survival space wasn't maintained well (second test with front and side curtain airbag deployment).

In the second test, the dummy moved to the left and its head slid around the left side of the frontal airbag.

Extensive intrusion by the instrument panel and footwell contributed a high risk of injury to the dummy's left hip.

Technical measurements for this test

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CEN1208	CEN1212
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm)	27	24
Footrest (cm)	29	26
Left toepan (cm)	20	18
Brake pedal (cm)	10	10
Parking brake (cm)	0	0
Rocker panel lateral average (cm)	4	3
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column		13
Upper hinge pillar max (cm)	26	24
Upper dash (cm)	30	26
Lower instrument panel (cm)	31	23

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CEN1212
Head
HIC-15	89
Peak gs at hard contact	no contact
Neck
Tension (kN)	1.5
Extension bending moment (Nm)	5
Maximum Nij	0.33
Chest maximum compression (mm)	31
Femur (kN)
Left	8.6
Right	1.2
Knee displacement (mm)
Left	1
Right	6
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left	53
Right	0
Maximum tibia index
Left	0.63
Right	0.62
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left	1.6
Right	1.7
Foot acceleration (g)
Left	90
Right	98

About the small overlap front test

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2009-16 models

Tested vehicle: 2009 Audi A4 2.0T quattro 4-door 4wd

The Audi A4 was redesigned for the 2009 model year. Moderate overlap frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Volkswagen/Audi.

The moderate overlap frontal crash test ratings also apply to the station wagon version of the A4, known as the A4 Avant, also redesigned for 2009.

Evaluation criteria	Rating
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

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	VTF0813
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm)	1
Left (cm)	2
Center (cm)	2
Right (cm)	3
Brake pedal (cm)	3
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm)	0
Right (cm)	0
Steering column movement
Upward (cm)	-2
Rearward (cm)	-6
A-pillar rearward movement (cm)	0

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	VTF0813
Head
HIC-15	164
Peak gs at hard contact	16
Neck
Tension (kN)	1.3
Extension bending moment (Nm)	47
Maximum Nij	0.27
Chest maximum compression (mm)	39
Legs
Femur force - left (kN)	0.3
Femur force - right (kN)	0.4
Knee displacement - left (mm)	0
Knee displacement - right (mm)	0
Maximum tibia index - left	0.36
Maximum tibia index - right	0.40
Tibia axial force - left (kN)	1.9
Tibia axial force - right (kN)	2.4
Foot acceleration (g)
Left	65
Right	66

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2009-16 models

Tested vehicle: 2009 Audi A4 2.0T Premium quattro 4-door 4wd with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Audi A4 was redesigned for the 2009 model year. The side impact crash test ratings also apply to the station wagon version of the A4, known as the A4 Avant, also redesigned for 2009.

Evaluation criteria	Rating
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

View of the vehicle and barrier just after the crash test.

View of the vehicle after the crash with doors removed, showing the side airbags and damage to the occupant compartment.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the driver dummy's head was protected from being hit by hard structures by the side curtain airbag.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the rear passenger dummy’s head was protected by the side airbag.

Technical measurements for this test

Test ID	CES0843
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm)	-13.0
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CES0843
Head HIC-15	234
Neck
Tension (kN)	1.2
Compression (kN)	0.0
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm)	39
Lateral force (kN)	1.5
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm)	46
Average deflection (mm)	37
Maximum deflection rate (m/s)	3.58
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s)	0.89
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN)	2.9
Acetabulum force (kN)	1.7
Combined force (kN)	4.4
Left femur
L-M force (kN)	0.5
L-M moment (Nm)	150
A-P moment (Nm)	42

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CES0843
Head HIC-15	114
Neck
Tension (kN)	0.3
Compression (kN)	0.4
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm)	24
Lateral force (kN)	1.1
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm)	24
Average deflection (mm)	21
Maximum deflection rate (m/s)	1.66
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s)	0.21
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN)	0.1
Acetabulum force (kN)	2.6
Combined force (kN)	2.6
Left femur
L-M force (kN)	1.2
L-M moment (Nm)	163
A-P moment (Nm)	-58

About the original side crash test

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2009-16 models

Tested vehicle: 2010 Audi A4 2.0T Premium 4-door 2wd

Overall evaluation
Curb weight	3,523 lbs
Peak force	16,197 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio	4.60

About the roof strength test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Power leather seats built after Sept 2008

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry

Technical measurements for this test

Seat type	Power leather seats mfg after Sept 2008
Geometry
Backset (mm)	36
Distance below top of head (mm)	23
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail	Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g)	13.9
Head contact time (ms)	53
Force rating	1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N)	11
Max neck tension (N)	307

Seat type: Power leather seats built before Oct 2008

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry

Technical measurements for this test

Seat type	Power leather seats mfg before Oct 2008
Geometry
Backset (mm)	38
Distance below top of head (mm)	23
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail	Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g)	14.1
Head contact time (ms)	64
Force rating	1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N)	1
Max neck tension (N)	430

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