Compare the2022 Audi Q8VS 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Ergonomics

Safety

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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 Jeep Grand Cherokee doesn’t offer pretensioners for the rear seat belts.

The Q8’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Grand Cherokee doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

Both the Q8 and Grand Cherokee 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 Grand Cherokee’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.

The Q8 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 Grand Cherokee 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.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Q8. But it costs extra on the Grand Cherokee.

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 Grand Cherokee doesn’t offer a night vision system.

The Q8’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the Grand Cherokee.

The Q8 offers an optional Top View Cameras to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Grand Cherokee 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 Q8 and the Grand Cherokee have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras and rear cross-path warning.

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 Jeep Grand Cherokee:

	Q8	Grand Cherokee
OVERALL STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
	Driver
STARS	4 Stars	4 Stars
Leg Forces (l/r)	82/59 lbs.	401/317 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	238	298
Chest Compression	.5 inches	.7 inches
Neck Stress	120 lbs.	170 lbs.
Neck Compression	117 lbs.	122 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	47/47 lbs.	314/94 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the Audi Q8 is safer than the Grand Cherokee:

	Q8	Grand Cherokee
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	MARGINAL
Restraints	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Head Neck Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Peak Head Forces	0 G’s	0 G’s
Steering Column Movement Rearward	0 cm	5 cm
Chest Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Hip & Thigh Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Femur Force R/L	0/0 kN	4.9/2.3 kN
Hip & Thigh Injury Risk R/L	0%/0%	3%/0%
Lower Leg Evaluation	GOOD	MARGINAL
Tibia index R/L	.24/.23	1.06/.54
Tibia forces R/L	1.3/1 kN	2.3/1.3 kN

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 Jeep Grand Cherokee:

	Q8	Grand Cherokee
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Chest Movement	.7 inches	.8 inches
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Hip Force	684 lbs.	689 lbs.
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Hip Force	593 lbs.	652 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its standard headlight’s “Acceptable” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Q8 its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2022, a rating granted to only 127 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Grand Cherokee is not a “Top Pick.”

Warranty

The Q8 comes with a full 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Grand Cherokee’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 14,000 miles sooner.

The Q8’s corrosion warranty is 7 years longer than the Grand Cherokee’s (12 vs. 5 years).

Reliability

For smoother operation, better efficiency and fewer moving parts, the Q8 has an overhead cam design, rather than the old pushrod design of the 5.7 V8 in the Grand Cherokee.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2021 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Audi vehicles are more reliable than Jeep vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Audi 20th in reliability. With 14 more problems per 100 vehicles, Jeep is ranked 24th.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2021 Auto Issue reports that Audi vehicles are more reliable than Jeep vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Audi 5 places higher in reliability than Jeep.

Engine

The Q8’s 3.0 turbo V6 hybrid produces 40 more horsepower (335 vs. 295) and 109 lbs.-ft. more torque (369 vs. 260) than the Grand Cherokee’s standard 3.6 DOHC V6.

As tested in Motor Trend the Audi Q8 is faster than the Jeep Grand Cherokee:

	Q8	Grand Cherokee V6	Grand Cherokee V8
Zero to 60 MPH	5.9 sec	7.7 sec	6.6 sec
Quarter Mile	14.4 sec	15.8 sec	14.9 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	97.6 MPH	88.4 MPH	92.8 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Q8 gets better fuel mileage than the Grand Cherokee 5.7 OHV V8 (18 city/23 hwy vs. 14 city/22 hwy).

Regenerative brakes improve the Q8’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Grand Cherokee doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the Q8’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Grand Cherokee:

	Q8	Grand Cherokee
Front Rotors	14.8 inches	13.8 inches
Rear Rotors	13.8 inches	13 inches

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Q8 has larger tires than the Grand Cherokee (285/45R21 vs. 265/50R20).

The Q8’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 45 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Grand Cherokee’s standard 60 series tires. The Q8 Premium Plus/Prestige’s optional tires have a lower 40 series profile than the Grand Cherokee’s optional 50 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Q8 has standard 21-inch wheels. Smaller 18-inch wheels are standard on the Grand Cherokee. The Q8 Premium Plus/Prestige’s optional 22-inch wheels are larger than the 20-inch wheels optional on the Grand Cherokee.

Suspension and Handling

The Q8 has a standard driver-adjustable suspension system. It allows the driver to choose between an extra-supple ride, reducing fatigue on long trips, or a sport setting, which allows maximum control for tricky roads or off-road. The Grand Cherokee’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Q8’s wheelbase is 3.2 inches longer than on the Grand Cherokee (117.9 inches vs. 114.7 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Q8 is 2.2 inches wider in the front and 2.7 inches wider in the rear than on the Grand Cherokee.

The Q8 Prestige handles at .83 G’s, while the Grand Cherokee Limited 4x4 pulls only .73 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Q8 Prestige executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.9 seconds quicker than the Grand Cherokee Summit 4x4 (26.9 seconds @ .69 average G’s vs. 28.8 seconds @ .59 average G’s).

Chassis

The design of the Audi Q8 amounts to more than styling. The Q8 has an aerodynamic coefficient of drag of .35 Cd. That is lower than the Grand Cherokee (.371). A more efficient exterior helps keep the interior quieter and helps the Q8 get better fuel mileage.

Passenger Space

The Q8 has 1.3 inches more front legroom, .8 inches more front shoulder room, 1.6 inches more rear legroom and .5 inches more rear shoulder room than the Grand Cherokee.

Cargo Capacity

The Q8’s cargo area is larger than the Grand Cherokee’s in almost every dimension:

	Q8	Grand Cherokee
Length to seat (2nd/1st)	41.1”/75.4”	38.5”/74.2”
Max Width	54”	47.6”
Min Width	39.8”	41.7”
Height	29”	33.5”

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the Q8’s liftgate can be opened and closed just by kicking your foot under the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The Grand Cherokee doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its liftgate, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

Towing

The Q8’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Grand Cherokee’s (7700 vs. 6200 pounds).

Ergonomics

Unlike the driver-only memory system in the Grand Cherokee Limited/Trailhawk/Overland/Summit, the Q8 Prestige offers an optional passenger memory, so that when drivers switch, the memory setting adjusts the driver’s seat, steering wheel position and outside mirror angle and the front passenger seat also adjusts to the new passenger’s preset preferences.

The Q8 Prestige has a standard heads-up display that projects speed and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Grand Cherokee doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Q8’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Grand Cherokee’s parking brake has to released manually.

The Q8’s front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Grand Cherokee’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

If the windows are left open on the Q8 the driver can close them all at the outside door handle or from a distance using the remote. On a hot day the driver can lower the windows from a distance using the keyless remote. The driver of the Grand Cherokee can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The Q8’s rain-sensitive wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically based on the amount of rainfall on the windshield. This allows the driver to concentrate on driving without constantly adjusting the wipers. The Grand Cherokee’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

To help drivers see further while navigating curves, the Q8 (except Premium) offers optional adaptive headlights to illuminate around corners automatically by reading vehicle speed and steering wheel angle. The Grand Cherokee doesn’t offer cornering lights.

A manual rear sunshade is optional in the Q8 and power rear side window sunshades are optional in the Q8 (except Premium) to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The Grand Cherokee doesn’t offer a rear sunshade.

The Q8 Prestige offers optional massaging front seats in order to maximize comfort and eliminate fatigue on long trips. Massaging seats aren’t available in the Grand Cherokee.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Audi Q8 offers an optional wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. The Grand Cherokee doesn’t offer wireless personal charging.