The S5’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Giulia doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Audi S5 are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The Alfa Romeo Giulia doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.
Both the S5 and Giulia have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The S5 has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Giulia’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.
In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the S5 are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Giulia doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The S5 has a standard Secondary Collision Brake Assist, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Giulia doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The S5 has standard Maneuver Assist that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Giulia doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the S5. But it costs extra on the Giulia.
Earlier warning of stopped traffic, traffic signals, dangerous road conditions, weather, or accidents, can keep driver's safer and prevent crashes. The S5 has Car-to-X Services, a system that seamlessly communicates important warnings to the driver about impending danger, if they're available. The Giulia doesn’t offer a system that can receive automated systems from infrastructure.
The S5 offers an optional Top View Camera System to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Giulia only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.
Both the S5 and Giulia have rear cross-traffic warning, but the S5 has Automatic Brake Activation (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Giulia’s Rear Cross-Path Detection doesn’t automatically brake.
Both the S5 and the Giulia have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and driver alert monitors.
The Audi S5 weighs 666 to 766 pounds more than the Alfa Romeo Giulia. The NHTSA advises that heavier cars are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.