Top Safety Pick

2009 Volkswagen CC

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

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 2009-17 models

Tested vehicle: 2012 Volkswagen CC Lux Plus 4-door

The Volkswagen CC was introduced in the 2009 model year. The car is a variant of older (2006-10) models of the Volkswagen Passat sedan with a lower roofline and frameless side windows.

Evaluation criteria	Rating

Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics The dummy’s head barely contacted the frontal airbag before sliding off the left side as the steering column moved 19 cm to the right, leaving the head vulnerable to contact with forward side structure and resulting in little airbag cushioning for the chest. Additionally, the seat belt allowed excessive forward excursion of the dummy’s head and torso. The side curtain airbag did not deploy, leaving the dummy's head vulnerable to contacts with side structure and outside objects. The driver door hinges were torn off and the latch opened, resulting in the door detaching from the vehicle, which shouldn't happen because the driver could be partly or completely ejected from the vehicle.

Action shot taken during the 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 wasn't maintained well.

During the crash, the dummy's head and torso barely contacted the airbag before sliding off to the left, and the seat belt allowed the dummy to move too far forward, as is evident from the gap between the seat back and the dummy's torso.

Despite extensive intrusion of the door hinge pillar and instrument panel, risk of injury was moderate and limited to the left thigh.

Technical measurements for this test

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CEN1203
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm)	24
Footrest (cm)	13
Left toepan (cm)	6
Brake pedal (cm)	3
Parking brake (cm)	0
Rocker panel lateral average (cm)	6
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column	3
Upper hinge pillar max (cm)	12
Upper dash (cm)	16
Lower instrument panel (cm)	17

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CEN1203
Head
HIC-15	131
Peak gs at hard contact	no contact
Neck
Tension (kN)	1.4
Extension bending moment (Nm)	9
Maximum Nij	0.26
Chest maximum compression (mm)	27
Femur (kN)
Left	6.9
Right	0.3
Knee displacement (mm)
Left	4
Right	1
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left	10
Right	0
Maximum tibia index
Left	0.50
Right	0.35
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left	2.6
Right	1.6
Foot acceleration (g)
Left	72
Right	70

About the small overlap front test

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2009-17 models

Tested vehicle: 2006 Volkswagen Passat 2.0T 4-door

The Volkswagen CC was introduced in the 2009 model year. The car remains a variant of older (2006-10) models of the Volkswagen Passat sedan with a lower roofline and frameless side windows. Frontal ratings are based on an earlier Institute test of a 2006 model Passat.

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

Action shot taken during the frontal offset crash test of the Volkswagen Passat.

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 above the dummy's head indicates where the head hit the roof rail and grab handle during rebound. Head accelerations from these hits were low.

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

Technical measurements for this test

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CEF0529
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm)	4
Left (cm)	6
Center (cm)	6
Right (cm)	5
Brake pedal (cm)	6
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm)	2
Right (cm)	2
Steering column movement
Upward (cm)	2
Rearward (cm)	-2
A-pillar rearward movement (cm)	0

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CEF0529
Head
HIC-15	161
Peak gs at hard contact	16
Neck
Tension (kN)	0.8
Extension bending moment (Nm)	28
Maximum Nij	0.29
Chest maximum compression (mm)	26
Legs
Femur force - left (kN)	0.1
Femur force - right (kN)	1.8
Knee displacement - left (mm)	0
Knee displacement - right (mm)	1
Maximum tibia index - left	0.33
Maximum tibia index - right	0.33
Tibia axial force - left (kN)	1.8
Tibia axial force - right (kN)	3.0
Foot acceleration (g)
Left	53
Right	125

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2009-17 models

Tested vehicle: 2009 Volkswagen CC 4-door 4wd with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Volkswagen CC was introduced in the 2009 model year. The car remains a variant of older (2006-10) models of the Volkswagen Passat sedan with a lower roofline and frameless side windows. Side ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Volkswagen.

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

Technical measurements for this test

Test ID	VTS0801
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm)	-14.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	VTS0801
Head HIC-15	143
Neck
Tension (kN)	0.9
Compression (kN)	0.4
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm)	24
Lateral force (kN)	1.1
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm)	31
Average deflection (mm)	28
Maximum deflection rate (m/s)	3.49
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s)	0.37
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN)	2.0
Acetabulum force (kN)	2.3
Combined force (kN)	4.0
Left femur
L-M force (kN)	0.9
L-M moment (Nm)	144
A-P moment (Nm)	27

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	VTS0801
Head HIC-15	308
Neck
Tension (kN)	0.2
Compression (kN)	2.3
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm)	33
Lateral force (kN)	1.6
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm)	39
Average deflection (mm)	31
Maximum deflection rate (m/s)	3.16
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s)	0.57
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN)	0.7
Acetabulum force (kN)	2.4
Combined force (kN)	3.0
Left femur
L-M force (kN)	0.4
L-M moment (Nm)	19
A-P moment (Nm)	86

About the original side crash test

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2009-17 models

Tested vehicle: 2011 Volkswagen CC Lux Limited 4-door

Rating does not apply to 4-wheel drive V6 model. Rating of this model is Acceptable.

Overall evaluation
Curb weight	3,419 lbs
Peak force	15,057 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio	4.40

About the roof strength test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Power seats

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry

Technical measurements for this test

Seat type	Power seats
Geometry
Backset (mm)	24
Distance below top of head (mm)	-6
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail	Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g)	15.2
Head contact time (ms)	60
Force rating	1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N)	11
Max neck tension (N)	574

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