Released earlier in this year the Audi A1 has now been awarded the maximum safety award by Euro NCAP
. Introduced in 1997 the Euro NCAP consortium is made up of international representatives of European transport ministries, automobile associations, insurers and consumer protection organisations. The sole role of the consortium is to carry out crash tests on all new vehicles and publish the results.
The crash tests measure adult occupant protection in frontal, rear and side impact collisions; they also test the amount of damage the car would cause if it hits a pedestrian. The Audi A1 scored the maximum for adult and child occupant protection in frontal, rear and side impact collisions; it also scored highly in the pedestrian collision test.
The 5 star NCAP award means the A1 is one of the safest cars in its class, Audi have shown great importance in ensuring the front end design of the A1 helps to reduce the consequence of an impact with a pedestrian.
In a proactive attempt Audi also placed tremendous importance on active safety systems to aid accident avoidance. A standard high-performance ESP stability system with electronic limited slip differential was therefore one of the first items in the requirements specification during the development of the Audi A1. This system is responsible for the Audi A1's high stability and very neutral handling in corners.
Recently Audi has been pioneering safety equipment in its vehicles, not just equipment that reduces the effect of an impact but also equipment that may help the driver avoid a collision in the first place. Audi has been in the forefront of technologies such as Lane Assist and Active Cruise Control, some of these technologies can be found even in a used Audi R8 in Essex.