After missing the mark for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's coveted crashworthiness awards in the 2014 model year, the 2015 Volkswagen Jetta has earned the institute's most prestigious designation, Top Safety Pick Plus. That's thanks to structural improvements and the addition of a frontal crash prevention system to the sedan, which IIHS classifies as a "midsize, moderately priced car."
Related: 2015 Volkswagen Jetta: First Look
"Although the car didn't get a full redesign, the A-pillars and door sills were strengthened for the 2015 model year," IIHS said in a statement. "As a result, the Jetta's small overlap rating improved to good, compared with the marginal rating of earlier models."
The IIHS' stringent small overlap crash test, introduced in 2012, approximates what happens when a vehicle's front corner strikes an object such as a tree or utility pole. The 2014 Jetta earned only a marginal rating in the evaluation, making it ineligible for Top Safety Pick status. To qualify as a Top Safety Pick, cars must score good in the small overlap test, which the Jetta did. As it had in previous years, the sedan also earned the required good ratings in the institute's other four crashworthiness evaluations: moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraints.
To qualify as a Top Safety Pick Plus, a vehicle must also earn a basic, advanced or superior rating for front crash prevention. The Jetta's optional forward collision warning system scored a basic rating. The system is newly available for 2015; the previous model year offered no such system, rendering it ineligible for the Plus designation in 2014.
IIHS image
from KickingTires http://ift.tt/1hiG57n
Put the internet to work for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment