Stay Safe this Winter with the Latest Features from Audi

Winter weather poses additional risks to drivers. Reduced visibility and traction can create dangerous conditions. If you live somewhere that experiences ice, snow, and freezing rain, the risks are even greater. It’s important to practice additional safety, keep up with your vehicle’s maintenance, and stay alert all year long, but even more so during the winter. However, Audi offers an entire suite of driver assistance features, collision-resistant vehicle construction, and technologies that increase traction in adverse conditions. The Audi Silver Spring team is here to break down some of the best safety features from Audi to protect you and your family when the roads get slippery this winter.

Passive Safety Features

Of course, your Audi comes available with tried and tested safety features that have become ubiquitous in US vehicles—like airbags and seat belts—but new models mean you’re getting the most updated versions of these features:

• Advanced Airbag Protection System: These airbags can deploy to different levels depending on the severity of the impact, ensuring optimal protection and reducing airbag-inflicted injuries.¹
• 3-Point Seat Belts with Automatic Tensioning System: In the event of a collision, these “smart” belts sync with the Advanced Airbag Protection System to automatically adjust tension, increasing the effectiveness of the airbag deployment.
• ASF® multi-material body construction: Two kinds of steel, high-tech carbon fiber, and lightweight magnesium combine to create this super rigid skeleton inside many Audi models, reducing overall weight while always offering optimal safety in collisions (pictured below).

Active Safety Features

Your modern automobile from Audi also offers a suite of semi-autonomous active safety features that are always at work while you drive. The brand-exclusive Audi pre sense® suite uses input from the vehicle’s external cameras and an industry-first LIDAR laser scanner to virtually “see” the road and detect potential hazards in all directions. The vehicle’s onboard zFAS processor analyzes the input with an advanced algorithm and determines how to react in fractions of a second. Some of these will respond with audible and visual warnings, and some of these can even take control of the vehicle to avoid collisions before the driver has time to react.²

• Predictive Active Suspension: An industry first that can detect a potential collision from the side via Audi pre sense side, raising the chassis by 3.1 inches within half of a second to help channel the impact toward the strongest structures of the vehicle body while also preparing the cabin for optimal seating position and to better protect passengers.
• Active Lane Assist: Detects road markers and alerts driver if the vehicle is veering out of the lane, and can even take action to keep the vehicle on course.
• Traffic Jam Assist: Provides throttle, braking, and steering help to take some of the stress out of congested driving (pictured below).
• Adaptive Cruise Assist: In addition to maintaining speed, this cruise control can maintain the following distance with the vehicles ahead.
• Blind Spot Information System (BLIS): Sensors in the rear bumper can see where the driver cannot, providing a warning if a vehicle is detected in the blind spot when the turn signal is activated.
• Rear Cross Traffic Assist: Senses pedestrian or vehicle traffic coming from either side of the vehicle when backing out of a parking space.
• Intersection Assist: Similar to Rear Cross Traffic Assist, this feature can take action to prevent collisions from crossing traffic in the front of the vehicle when entering an intersection.
• High Beam Assist: When the high beams are activated, your vehicle will use a front-facing camera to sense oncoming traffic and temporarily dim the headlights until the oncoming traffic passes.
• Rain-Sensing Windshield Wipers: Automatically adjusts wiper speed to match the severity of the rainfall detected on the windshield.

Premium Traction Technology

Slippery winter road conditions require extra care while driving, but Audi models feature intelligent technology features to make it easier to navigate situations with reduced traction. Audi’s quattro® All-Wheel Drive is standard on many models. This advanced system can send power to the wheels with the most traction. Standard features like 4-wheel ABS, electronic brake distribution, brake assist, and hill start assist all offer support without being invasive. The tire pressure monitoring system will alert you if one of your tires has low pressure, which can affect braking, handling, and traction. Traction control utilizes the sensors and systems already equipped in the vehicle to reduce understeer or oversteer, both of which can result in an accident. All of these features are so responsive that drivers don’t even notice how much they contribute to the smooth handling and drive of Audi models.

Peace of Mind Guaranteed

It can be risky out there on the roads, but these latest safety features from Audi are committed to keeping you and your most precious cargo safe while you travel. To learn more about these and all of the other state-of-the-art features you can enjoy in any one of our new models, visit the Audi Silver Spring showroom at 3151 Automobile Blvd, Silver Spring, MD 20904 or contact a member of our sales team online.

¹ Airbags are supplemental restraints only and will not deploy in all crash circumstances. Always use safety belts and seat children only in the rear, using restraint systems appropriate for their size and age.

² Driver Assistance features are not substitutes for attentive driving. Please see your Owner’s Manual for further details and important limitations.

Image Credit: Audi