2019 Volkswagen GTI is a Top Safety Pick The small car earns a Top Safety Pick award when equipped with optional front crash prevention and available LED headlights that earn an acceptable rating. May 21, 2019

The 2019 Volkswagen GTI, a small car, earns a Top Safety Pick award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety when equipped with optional front crash prevention and specific headlights. The GTI is the first model from Volkswagen to earn a 2019 safety award.

To qualify for a 2019 Top Safety Pick award, a vehicle must earn good ratings in the driver-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests, as well as a good or acceptable rating in the passenger-side small overlap front test. It also needs an advanced or superior rating for front crash prevention and a good or acceptable headlight rating.

The GTI earns good ratings in five crashworthiness evaluations and an acceptable rating in the passenger-side small overlap crash test.

The GTI’s available front crash prevention system earns a superior rating. It avoided collisions in 12 mph and 25 mph track tests and has a forward collision warning component that meets the criteria set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The small car earns an acceptable headlight rating for the LED headlights that come with the SE, Rabbit Edition and Autobahn trims. The Autobahn trim also features high-beam assist, a system that automatically switches between high beams and low beams, depending on the presence of other vehicles. The GTI’s base halogen reflector headlights earn a poor rating because they provided inadequate visibility in multiple test scenarios.

Other members of Volkswagen’s Golf family — the Golf hatchback, Golf Alltrack and Golf SportWagen — all fall short of earning 2019 safety awards due to lackluster headlight performance.