Both the new Q5 and Tonale have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The new Q5 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 Tonale’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 new Q5 are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Tonale doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The new Q5 has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Tonale doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.
In a Vehicle-to-Vehicle Frontal Crash Prevention 2.0 test conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the Audi new Q5 achieved a “Good” rating - the highest possible - for its performance in forward collision warning and automatic braking systems, demonstrating its excellent capabilities in preventing collisions. The Alfa Romeo Tonale has not been tested.
The new Q5 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 Tonale 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.
Earlier warning of stopped traffic, traffic signals, dangerous road conditions, weather, or accidents, can keep driver's safer and prevent crashes. The new Q5 has Car-to-X Services, a system that seamlessly communicates important warnings to the driver about impending danger, if they're available. The Tonale doesn’t offer a system that can receive automated systems from infrastructure.
The Audi new Q5 offers an optional Top View Camera System and it also offers an optional rear camera washer to make backing always safe, regardless of road dirt or grime, while the Alfa Romeo Tonale doesn’t offer a camera washer, requiring manual cleaning.
Both the new Q5 and Tonale have rear cross-traffic warning, but the new Q5 has Automatic Brake Activation (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Tonale’s Rear Cross-Path Detection doesn’t automatically brake.
Both the new Q5 and the Tonale have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, 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, driver alert monitors and available around view monitors.
The Audi new Q5 weighs 529 pounds more than the Alfa Romeo Tonale. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.
The Audi new Q5 has achieved the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) highest rating of “Top Safety Pick Plus” for the 2025 model year. This distinction is based on its exceptional performance in IIHS’ rigorous battery of safety tests. Specifically, it earned a “Good” rating in the latest, more stringent moderate overlap front crash test, a “Good” result in the updated side impact test, and a “Good” score in the revised pedestrian crash prevention test. The Tonale has not yet been evaluated by the IIHS for 2025.