Audi A4 receives Euro NCAP Advanced award at Paris show

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By Brett Davis | October 06th, 2010

The already five-star-awarded Audi A4 has just been upgraded to Euro NCAP’s ‘Advanced’ status at the Paris Motor Show in recognition of its Side Assist technology.

The NCAP team all agreed the Audi Side Assist is a technology that does help reduce the chances of a car accident by alerting the driver of hazardous situations.

Audi’s Side Assist technology alerts the driver by communicating any external movement behind the rear corners of the car. Using sensors, the on-board computer can tell if a car is in the blind spot and can also recognise a fast approaching car, for instance, coming down the overtaking lane on a motorway.

If a car is in the blind spot or approaching, the system will notify the driver through the use of a series of flashing LED lights located on the corresponding side mirror. If the driver then activates the indicator turn signal whilst another vehicle is still in the blind spot, the LED lights become very bright and quite obvious to the driver to help deter the lane change.

Dr. Ulrich Widmann, Head of Vehicle Safety Development at AUDI AG, said about the NCAP award,

“Passive and active safety systems have reduced the number of accidents and their effects. The ‘Euro NCAP Advanced’ award for the Audi A4 confirms our approach to increasing convenience and safety with active driver assistance systems.”

The Audi Side Assist system is available on all Audi models except on the A1 and A3 range.

riceboy

you’d hope the A4 isn’t driven by people who flicks on the indicator when they’ve already finished the lane change… in which case, it’d be almost pointless

ST

VW/Audi etc have indicators when the indicator stalk is flicked gives out 3 flash of the indicator lights unlike a lot of Japanese cars.

Mack

Mitsubishi have this feature on their Lancer don’t they?
Mick

VE Commodores do this too.

Dave S

I thought it was an option on the HVS E3. Roughly the same price as the A4 i guess
JML

Most Fords do this.

And the high spec Mondeos now have a Blind Spot Assist feature similar to the Audi.

The gap between prestige cars and regular cars is narrower than ever these days. Especially with the low end Germans, people pay a lot for a badge…
Mikey_94

That would be the E-Series 3 HSV vehicles, with the SBZA option…

Mick

I actually meant the 3 click lane change thing, but yes this tech is an option on the E3′s too.

kennyboye

Didnt Volvo pioneer this technology?
m2m

good feature nevertheless. There’s nothing more annoying than making good pace in the overtaking lane and some moron pulls out in front. Can’t say it’s ever been people in premium cars but i guess the technology will trickle down to cheaper cars in a few years time..
Kim

Great tech we optioned this with our A4 too bad we had to cancel the order before the first shipment of B8 A4′s came (no quattro on anything other than the 3.2FSI back in the first shipment)!

The bad thing is, with 80% of A4′s not even having HID/Xenon lights, 90% of A4′s wouldn’t even have optioned this tech. Such a pity that most 3/A4/C are pretty much base spec, so much wasted potential turned into a badge.

ST

The sad part of car purchasing psyche is that safety is expected but when it’s available as part of an option, people will always choose the (for example) bigger wheel option.

When it’s not standard but available as an option, car companies get criticised for not making it standard. Most of the time, the dealers won’t stock it and a wait of X months is needed. Most people can’t wait that long to get their hands on their shiny new car.

When it’s made standard and built into the price of the car, car companies again get criticised for providing a price higher that might be seen as too high when in fact the engineering work involved to develop the part is high.