The redesigned 2015 Volkswagen Golf, along with its faster sibling the Golf GTI have undergone the Insurance Institute for Highway Safetys (IIHS) crash test and have both earned the Top Safety Pick Plus status.
In order for a vehicle to achieve this, the car must receive a good rating in the IIHSs moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests. Moreover, it has to receive a good or acceptable rating in the most difficult test of them all, the small overlap.
According to the IIHS, only a few issues affected the results of both cars. In the small overlap test, the driver’s space was maintained well and injury measures recorded on the dummy indicate a low risk of any significant injuries in a crash of this severity.
In addition, while the dummy’s head nearly slid off the left side of the airbag, the side curtain airbag deployed to protect the head from contacting side structure and outside objects.
Both these models which have been redesigned for 2015, offer an optional forward collision warning system that earned them a basic rating in this test. The models are also the latest Volkswagen models to earn a 2014 safety award from IIHS after the Passat qualified for Top Safety Pick.