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The A6’s body is extremely strong and its stable passenger cell protected its adult occupants well. The car protected its child occupants but did little to keep pedestrians from harm.

Front impact
The body suffered minimal deformation and the driver’s door could be opened normally after the impact. The dual-stage airbags and pre-tensioners together with the load limiters and the stable structure kept loads on the driver’s chest and legs low.

Side impact
A very impressive protection system includes seat mounted thorax airbags and a head curtain airbag the latter also protecting those in the rear. Maximum points were achieved in this section.

Child-protection
There is a manual on/off switch for the passenger frontal airbag. Owners can also ask dealers to disconnect the airbag permanently. In either case, its “off”status is shown on the instrument binnacle and on the centre console.

Pedestrian protection
Pedestrian protection was extremely poor. Only two sites on the bonnet top offered any protection to adult and child heads. The bumper and bonnet leading edge were also very unfriendly towards pedestrians and other vulnerable road users.