For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Audi Q8 have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The BMW X5 doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Audi Q8 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 BMW X5 doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.
Both the Q8 and X5 have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Q8 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 X5’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.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Q8. But it costs extra on the X5.
Earlier warning of stopped traffic, traffic signals, dangerous road conditions, weather, or accidents, can keep driver's safer and prevent crashes. The Q8 has Car-to-X Services, a system that seamlessly communicates important warnings to the driver about impending danger, if they're available. The X5 doesn’t offer a system that can receive automated systems from infrastructure.
A passive infrared night vision system optional on the Q8 Prestige helps the driver to more easily detect people, animals or other objects in front of the vehicle at night. Using an infrared camera to detect heat, the system then displays the image on a monitor in the dashboard. The X5 doesn’t offer a night vision system.
The Audi Q8’s rear backup camera has a standard washer for maintaining a clear view under various conditions. In contrast, the BMW X5 does not offer a rear camera washer, meaning its effectiveness relies on manual cleaning by the user when necessary.
Both the Q8 and the X5 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors and available around view monitors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Audi Q8 is safer than the BMW X5:
|
|
Q8 |
X5 |
| OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
|
Driver |
|
| STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
| Neck Injury Risk |
30% |
34% |
| Neck Stress |
235 lbs. |
308 lbs. |
| Neck Compression |
14 lbs. |
112 lbs. |
| Leg Forces (l/r) |
82/59 lbs. |
636/584 lbs. |
|
|
Passenger |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
| HIC |
238 |
342 |
| Chest Compression |
.5 inches |
.8 inches |
| Neck Injury Risk |
34% |
35% |
| Neck Stress |
120 lbs. |
220 lbs. |
| Leg Forces (l/r) |
47/47 lbs. |
527/418 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Audi Q8 is safer than the BMW X5:
|
|
Q8 |
X5 |
|
|
Front Seat |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| HIC |
60 |
72 |
| Abdominal Force |
128 lbs. |
130 lbs. |
| Hip Force |
260 lbs. |
279 lbs. |
|
|
Into Pole |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| HIC |
282 |
308 |
| Hip Force |
593 lbs. |
796 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.