For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Genesis G80 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 Infiniti Q50 doesn’t offer pretensioners for the rear seat belts.
Both the G80 and Q50 have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The G80 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 Q50’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 G80 with its optional rear seat reminder are reminded to check the back seat when a sensor determines the back seat is occupied. The Q50 doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Genesis G80 has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Q50 doesn’t offer knee airbags.
The G80 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 Q50 doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.
The G80 has standard Anti-Whiplash Front Head Restraints, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Anti-Whiplash Front Head Restraints system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Q50 doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
The G80’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Q50 doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the G80 and the Q50 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, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive and 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 Genesis G80 is safer than the Infiniti Q50:
|
G80 |
Q50 |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
202 |
225 |
Neck Compression |
31 lbs. |
45 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
3 Stars |
HIC |
137 |
153 |
Chest Compression |
.7 inches |
1 inches |
Neck Injury Risk |
34% |
48% |
Neck Compression |
43 lbs. |
85 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
28/23 lbs. |
541/294 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 Genesis G80 is safer than the Infiniti Q50:
|
G80 |
Q50 |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Chest Movement |
.7 inches |
.9 inches |
Abdominal Force |
174 G’s |
262 G’s |
Hip Force |
290 lbs. |
320 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
94 |
196 |
Spine Acceleration |
24 G’s |
46 G’s |
Hip Force |
242 lbs. |
415 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
13 inches |
19 inches |
Spine Acceleration |
34 G’s |
36 G’s |
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 G80 its highest rating: “Top Pick Plus” for 2021, a rating granted to only 73 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Q50 has not been fully tested, yet.