Top Safety Pick

2011 Volkswagen Jetta

midsize car / 4-door sedan

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Evaluation criteria	Rating
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.

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2011-18 models

Tested vehicle: 2011 Volkswagen Jetta S 4-door

The Volkswagen Jetta sedan was redesigned for the 2011 model year. Two moderate overlap frontal tests of the Jetta were conducted, one by the Institute and the other by Volkswagen. Ratings are based on both tests.

These ratings do not apply to the station wagon version of the Jetta, known as the Jetta SportWagen, which is built on a platform designed earlier.

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 Institute's moderate overlap frontal 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 (Institute test car shown).

Smeared greasepaint indicates where the dummy's head hit the roof rail in the Institute's test.

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

Technical measurements for this test

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	VTF1006	CEF1011
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm)	4	8
Left (cm)	9	11
Center (cm)	6	8
Right (cm)	5	5
Brake pedal (cm)	8	4
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm)	1	2
Right (cm)	2	1
Steering column movement
Upward (cm)	-3	0
Rearward (cm)	-5	-1
A-pillar rearward movement (cm)	0	1

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	VTF1006	CEF1011
Head
HIC-15	173	250
Peak gs at hard contact	no contact	53
Neck
Tension (kN)	1.6	1.2
Extension bending moment (Nm)	25	21
Maximum Nij	0.31	0.50
Chest maximum compression (mm)	33	33
Legs
Femur force - left (kN)	0.8	3.7
Femur force - right (kN)	1.5	1.7
Knee displacement - left (mm)	0	6
Knee displacement - right (mm)	2	11
Maximum tibia index - left	0.28	0.40
Maximum tibia index - right	0.49	0.76
Tibia axial force - left (kN)	2.0	1.7
Tibia axial force - right (kN)	3.3	1.6
Foot acceleration (g)
Left	72	100
Right	124	123

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2011-18 models

Tested vehicle: 2011 Volkswagen Jetta TDI 4-door with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Volkswagen Jetta sedan was redesigned for the 2011 model year. Side ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Volkswagen.

Note: The ratings do not apply to the station wagon version of the Jetta, known as the Jetta SportWagen, which is built on a platform designed earlier.

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	VTS1004
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	VTS1004
Head HIC-15	97
Neck
Tension (kN)	0.8
Compression (kN)	0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm)	43
Lateral force (kN)	1.5
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm)	43
Average deflection (mm)	40
Maximum deflection rate (m/s)	4.94
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s)	0.98
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN)	2.6
Acetabulum force (kN)	2.5
Combined force (kN)	4.9
Left femur
L-M force (kN)	0.8
L-M moment (Nm)	31
A-P moment (Nm)	149

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	VTS1004
Head HIC-15	313
Neck
Tension (kN)	0.3
Compression (kN)	0.6
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm)	38
Lateral force (kN)	1.2
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm)	42
Average deflection (mm)	40
Maximum deflection rate (m/s)	3.83
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s)	0.65
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN)	0.7
Acetabulum force (kN)	2.2
Combined force (kN)	2.6
Left femur
L-M force (kN)	0.3
L-M moment (Nm)	59
A-P moment (Nm)	57

About the original side crash test

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2011-18 models

Tested vehicle: 2011 Volkswagen Jetta S 4-door

Overall evaluation
Curb weight	2,963 lbs
Peak force	15,859 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio	5.35

About the roof strength test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Manual cloth seat

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry

Technical measurements for this test

Seat type	Manual cloth seat
Geometry
Backset (mm)	35
Distance below top of head (mm)	10
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail	Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g)	13.0
Head contact time (ms)	53
Force rating	1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N)	38
Max neck tension (N)	491

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