Euro NCAP is one of the world’s standardised organisations for testing vehicles to see how well they can stand up to various collisions and accidents on our roadways and as time goes on, its tests become tougher and tougher, forcing manufacturers to take their car safety to new heights to achieve the top star rating. However, despite many of the latest vehicles being released hitting the mark on a number of different points and achieving a full five star rating from the safety body, Audi’s latest 2015 TT has failed to hit those heights, only managing a four star rating after its full test results were published.
Breaking it down more in the official report however, Audi’s new TT achieves just an 81 per cent safety record for adult occupants and an even lower 68 per cent protection rating for child passengers. Part of the reasoning for this is that there are several key airbags missing from its design, including those that protect knees of the driver and front seat passenger, as well as side pelvis airbags. While there are seat belt reminders (which can cause big drops in safety star ratings if missing) and the car did perform exceptionally well in the frontal offset barrier test (with great protection for passenger and driver head, feet and torsos), in the frontal full width test things didn’t go quite so well. In those tests, the passenger’s torso received only “marginal” protection, while the driver’s was considered adequate.
The big kicker though that was probably mostly responsible for the TT not receiving a top level safety rating, was that it lacks all forms of autonomous emergency braking. Even having a low-speed option for it like a lot of new cars do would have been something, but the 2015 TT doesn’t come with any of it. This meant that for its safety assist systems, the TT was rated at just 64 per cent, which is far from impressive for a modern car. Especially a sporty variant that is capable of driving at very high speeds if the driver decides to put their foot down.
Eagle eyed viewers may notice in the above video too, that the rear seat occupants (which were a little taller than Audi recommended rear-seat passengers be, for safety reasons) actually impacted their head on the back of the front seat during the full frontal crash. However, damage to crash-dummy was considered minor. It is worth bearing in mind though that if you buy this car, it would be wise not to put a tall passenger in the back.
However if you are a pedestrian, your chances of being killed by the new TT are relatively low, as protection for those outside the vehicle is rated at 82 per cent, with only one or two specific areas on the bonnet and windscreen representing specific hazards for those struck by the vehicle.
