Volkswagen’s Golf GTI Earns IIHS Top Safety Pick Rating

Volkswagen’s Golf GTI has earned a Top Safety Pick rating for 2019 from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The model that earned the rating featured Forward Collision Warning and Autonomous Emergency Braking (Front Assist), as well as LED headlights.

Volkswagen Sales Chief Enthused

Derrick Hatami, VW’s executive vice president of sales, marketing and aftersales, was thrilled by the designation. “We are so pleased to receive the IIHS Top Safety Pick award for the GTI. This award demonstrates Volkswagen’s longstanding commitment to vehicle safety and the development of innovative technologies.”

To qualify for a Top Safety Pick, a vehicle must earn good ratings in the driver-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength, and head restraint tests. And, the vehicle must earn a good or acceptable rating in the passenger-side small overlap front test. Finally, it must earn an advanced or superior rating for front crash prevention and a good or acceptable headlight rating.

IIHS launched its front crash prevention rating program in 2013 to help consumers sort through the maze of available technologies and focus on the most effective systems. For more information on IIHS and its ratings, please visit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Information Website.. All IIHS ratings are available at the IIHS website that contains all car ratings.

The GTI earned good ratings in five crashworthiness evaluations and an acceptable rating in the passenger-side small overlap crash test. Also, the Golf model earned a superior rating for frontal crash prevention when equipped with forwarding Collision Warning and Autonomous Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Monitoring (Front Assist). Front Assist is available in the optional Driver Assistance Package on S models and standard on the rest of the lineup.

LE Headlights Are Available In Three Trims

The LED headlights that are standard on the SE, Rabbit Edition and Autobahn trims have earned an acceptable headlight rating. The Autobahn trim also features High Beam Control (Light Assis). Standard on Autobahn models, the headlights are automatically set to the high beam above 40 mph on dark or poorly-lit roads, if there is no oncoming traffic.

The Golf GTI provides a combination of both active and passive safety systems. The systems feature six airbags as standard (front and side airbags for the outboard seating positions), along with several electronic safety systems, such as an Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) and Electronic Stability Control (ESC).

A standard feature on the 2019 GTI is VW’s Automatic Post-Collision Braking System. This builds on the premise that a collision is rarely a single action. Rather, it is a series of events that follows the initial impact, the most significant of which can cause additional collisions. The Automatic Post-Collision Braking System helps address this, in some crash scenarios, by applying the brakes when a primary collision is detected by the airbag sensors, thus potentially reducing leftover energy and, in turn, the chance of additional damage.

To meet driver demands, the 2019 Golf GTI offers a comprehensive suite of driver-assistance features that include:

• Front Collision Warning and Autonomous Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Monitoring (Front Assist)
• Blind Spot Monitor
• Rear Traffic Alert
• Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC)
• Lane-Keeping System (Lane Assist)
• Park Distance Control
• Parking Steering Assistant (Park Assist)
• High-Beam Control (Light Assist)

Model Pricing Listed

Pricing for the 2019 Volkswagen Golf GTI S, with a standard six-speed manual transmission, starts at $27,595. S models equipped with the seven-speed DSG® automatic transmission with Tiptronic® start at $28,695.

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