Audi picks up two more IIHS safety awards

The 2019 Audi A7 and the 2019 Audi Q3 each qualify for a safety award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety when equipped with specific headlights. The A7, a large luxury car, qualifies for a Top Safety Pick award, while the Q3, a small SUV, qualifies for the higher-tier Top Safety Pick+ award.

To qualify for a 2019 Top Safety Pick award, a vehicle must earn good ratings in the driver-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests, as well as a good or acceptable rating in the passenger-side small overlap front test. It also needs an advanced or superior rating for front crash prevention and a good or acceptable headlight rating. The Top Safety Pick+ award requires a good passenger-side small overlap rating and a good headlight rating.

Both vehicles earn good ratings in all six of the Institute's crashworthiness evaluations.

The A7 and Q3 are both equipped with a standard front crash prevention system that rates superior. Both vehicles performed well in IIHS track tests, avoiding crashes in 12 and 25 mph tests.

The A7 must settle for the regular Top Safety Pick award because its best available headlights rate acceptable. That rating applies to the LED projector headlights that come with the Premium Plus trim. The A7's base headlights — LED reflectors — rate marginal, while the LED projectors that come on the A7's highest trim, the Prestige trim, rate poor due to excessive glare. High-beam assist, a system that automatically switches between high beams and low beams, depending on the presence of other vehicles, is included with all but the base headlights.

The Q3 earns a good headlight rating for its available LED projectors, allowing the SUV to qualify for the top-tier "plus" award. Q3s equipped with the base headlights — LED reflectors — don't qualify for the award, however, because those headlights rate poor. High-beam assist is standard on the Q3.