Swanson

I just saw a white D2 involved in an accident in Denver yesterday - It looked exactly like my new purchase and scared the pants off me. Was it anybody from here? Lots of front end damage, but it didn't look like anybody was hurt. Does anybody have any experience crashing an A8? I suspect they are pretty solid in a rough-up....

skiracer

drive over the top of you, you should be very safe. The crush zones on these cars works really well.

Jkay

A8 was the first car to achieve the double 5-star crash rating in the US.

KYNZ

are there any in the A or C pillars? I know my 01 s4 had A pillar airbags and a bunch in the back too...but do the 97-99s have those too? i dont see the airbag emblems on the pillars in mine...also is the crash testing just that good on the D2s (ie. crumple zones, side and front impact, etc.)...not trying to call your statement out but it just makes me inquisitive and excited to know i have such a safe and luxurious automobile! Any data would be apprecitated by all i would guess.

tozoM8

My 97' has 6 air bags. Driver's, passenger's and four seats.

tozoM8

pre facelift.
<img src="http://www.sovereign-publications.com/images/polyamide-hp/Front_Side_Airbags_Audi_A8.jpg">
Here is another with a side curtain bags.
<img src="http://www.sovereign-publications.com/images/polyamide-hp/Side_Curtain_Side_Airbags_A.jpg">

ex-a8drifter

If you take the front end apart...you will see the amazing engineering that went into the car too.

JimR

and can see some of the structure back there.

There are some fairly massive structural elements. Good stuff.

Swanson

After the shock of seeing the crumpled D2, my next thoughts were.... a new parts car in my color!!!!

Phil3315

They're only in the 2000 and newer A8's &amp; S8's in the USA, not sure when they became standard/available in the rest of the world. That said, I don't want to find out first hand how much protection they offer against SUV's, but it's nice to know that you have something between your head and the brush guard of said jacked up SUV. The term "crush zones" doesn't begin to describe the energy absorbing capabilities of the A8's Aluminum Spaceframe. The A8 is actually designed to crash, unlike most cars, where they try to fix troublespots as they arise or get pointed out in government crash tests. The individual parts of the spaceframe are made of different aluminum alloys, depending on where they are, what they support, and what role they play in maintaining the cabin structure. The whole thing is literally programmed absorb and distribute crash energy while maintaining the passenger cabin under varying conditions of speed and direction. That's something that you can't really do with steel, or even the high strength steel, as it is prone to rip and tear under a load and have unpredictable results, not to mention the weight it adds to the car. The ASF is also very repairable, as damage is confined in sections depending on the severity of the collision, the damaged parts are removed and replaced with new ones, and Audi proved that when repaired correctly, the repaired car will have the same crash performance as it did new. It's nothing short of amazing, and also the reason that you need to be sure your car gets repaired at a shop certified for repair on the AUDI A8/S8 ASF, and not just aluminum repair, as the other aluminum cars are built differently. The Wall Street Journal named the A8 "Safest Car in the World" after an extensive study in '99 to incorporate all availiable crash/safety data, ie more than just government crash tests. There have been many improvements since then, and I'm fairly certain that it's still the safest car on the road, which is why I drive one.
http://www.autoaluminum.org/documents/whitepapers/crashworthiness.pdf<ul><li><a href="http://www.seatbelt.com/safest_cars.html">Recent safety comparison across classes</a></li></ul>