The Q3’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Atlas Cross Sport doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
Both the Q3 and Atlas Cross Sport have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Q3 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 Atlas Cross Sport’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 Audi Q3 has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Atlas Cross Sport doesn’t offer knee airbags.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Q3. But it costs extra on the Atlas Cross Sport.
Both the Q3 and the Atlas Cross Sport 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, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning 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 Q3 is safer than the Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport:
|
|
Q3 |
Atlas Cross Sport |
|
|
Driver |
|
| STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
| Neck Stress |
343 lbs. |
412 lbs. |
| Neck Compression |
35 lbs. |
59 lbs. |
|
|
Passenger |
|
| STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
| Chest Compression |
.6 inches |
.7 inches |
| Neck Injury Risk |
35% |
39% |
| Neck Compression |
83 lbs. |
117 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 Q3 is safer than the Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport:
|
|
Q3 |
Atlas Cross Sport |
|
|
Front Seat |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| Hip Force |
333 lbs. |
345 lbs. |
|
|
Into Pole |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| Max Damage Depth |
13 inches |
14 inches |
| Spine Acceleration |
47 G’s |
51 G’s |
| Hip Force |
485 lbs. |
800 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 front crash prevention system, and its headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Q3 its highest rating: “Top Pick Plus” for 2019, a rating granted to only 105 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Atlas Cross Sport has not been tested, yet.