Audi A8 Achieves Highest Possible Safety Test Rating
16 September 1998
Audi A8 Achieves Highest Possible Safety Test Rating AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Sept. 15 -- A 1998 Audi A8 has achieved
the top NHTSA safety rating for both the driver and the front seat passenger
according to test results announced today by the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The Audi A8 is the first and only member of the premium luxury class to
earn the dual five-star rating for both the driver and the front seat
passenger under NHTSA's New Car Assessment Program (NCAP).
The NCAP test results are reported in a range of one to five stars, with
five stars indicating the best crash protection for vehicles within the same
weight class. Head and chest data are combined into a single rating and this
rating represents a vehicle's relative level of crash protection in a head-on
collision.
To collect this data, vehicles are crashed into a fixed barrier at
35 miles per hour with instrumented dummies registering impact forces during
the crash. The force is equivalent to a head-on collision between two
identical vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.
The A8 is Audi's all-aluminum luxury flagship, first introduced to North
America in the Fall of 1996. The ground breaking Audi A8 employs a
revolutionary aluminum space frame body technology, the Audi Space Frame
(ASF), created in partnership with aluminum pioneer Alcoa. The result is a
frame that's 40 percent lighter than traditional steel frames and yet one
that's stronger and safer.
In creating the A8, Audi broke with the paradigm that the only way to get
safer was to get heavier. Instead, using the ASF technology, Audi achieved
significant weight savings over competitive models while delivering abundant
room and unsurpassed amenities in an elegant automobile that performs like a
sports sedan.
Available in two V8 equipped versions -- a front-drive A8 3.7 and an all-
wheel drive A8 4.2 quattro -- drivers command up to 300 horsepower and,
because of its light weight, do so without paying the gas guzzler tax. To
harness this power, a five-speed automatic transmission with Tiptronic(R)* is
standard.
The A8 was the first vehicle in the world with six airbag supplemental
restraints as standard equipment: two next generation airbags for driver and
front passenger protection in the event of a frontal impact; two seat-mounted
side airbags for the driver and front passenger for side-impact protection,
and two more side-impact airbags for the rear occupants. There is even an
advanced central locking system that will unlock the doors and turn on the
interior lights in the event of an airbag deployment.
* TIPTRONIC is a registered trademark of Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche AG.
