Compare the2023 Audi A4VS 2023 Infiniti Q50

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Transmission
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Economic Advantages
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Audi A4 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 its rear seat belts.

Both the A4 and Q50 have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The A4 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.

The Audi A4 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 Q50 doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The A4 has a standard Audi Backguard System, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Audi Backguard System moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. At the same time the pretensioning seatbelts fire, removing slack from the belts. The Q50 doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

The A4 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 Q50 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 A4. But it costs extra on the Q50.

Both the A4 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, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems, around view monitors 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 A4 is safer than the Infiniti Q50:

	A4	Q50
	Passenger
STARS	4 Stars	3 Stars
Chest Compression	1 inches	1 inches
Neck Injury Risk	25%	48%
Neck Stress	119 lbs.	145 lbs.
Neck Compression	47 lbs.	85 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	324/341 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 Audi A4 is safer than the Infiniti Q50:

	A4	Q50
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Abdominal Force	219 lbs.	262 lbs.
Hip Force	308 lbs.	320 lbs.
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	12 inches	19 inches

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 available headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the A4 the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2022, a rating granted to only 155 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Q50 has not been fully tested, yet.

Warranty

The A4’s corrosion warranty is 5 years longer than the Q50’s (12 vs. 7 years).

There are over 50 percent more Audi dealers than there are Infiniti dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the A4’s warranty.

Reliability

The Audi A4’s engines use a cast iron block for durability, while the Q50’s engines use an aluminum block. Aluminum engine blocks are much more prone to warp and crack at high temperatures than cast iron.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the A4 gets better mileage than the Q50:

			MPG
A4
	AWD	40 TFSI 2.0 turbo 4-cyl. Hybrid	24 city/33 hwy
		45 TFSI 2.0 turbo 4-cyl. Hybrid	24 city/32 hwy
Q50
	RWD	3.0 turbo V6	20 city/29 hwy
		Red Sport 400 3.0 turbo V6	20 city/26 hwy
	AWD	3.0 turbo V6	19 city/27 hwy
		Red Sport 400 3.0 turbo V6	19 city/26 hwy

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the A4’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip. The Q50 doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Audi A4 uses regular unleaded gasoline (premium recommended for maximum performance). The Q50 requires premium, which can cost 20 to 55 cents more per gallon.

Environmental Friendliness

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Audi A4 higher (5 out of 10) than the Infiniti Q50 (3). This means the A4 produces up to 16.5 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Q50 every 15,000 miles.

Transmission

The A4 offers a standard sequential manual gearbox (SMG). With no clutch pedal to worry about and a fully automatic mode, an SMG is much more efficient than a conventional automatic but just as easy to drive. The Q50 doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

The A4’s launch control uses engine electronics to hold engine RPM’s precisely in order to provide the most stable and rapid acceleration possible, using all of the available traction. The Q50 doesn’t offer launch control.

Brakes and Stopping

The A4 stops much shorter than the Q50:

	A4	Q50
70 to 0 MPH	149 feet	165 feet	Car and Driver

Tires and Wheels

The A4’s optional tires provide better handling because they have a lower 35 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Q50 Red Sport 400’s 40 series front tires.

The A4 has a standard space-saver spare tire so you can replace a flat tire and drive to have the flat repaired or replaced. A spare tire isn’t available on the Q50; it requires you to depend on its run-flat tires, which limits mileage and speed before they are repaired. If a run-flat is damaged beyond repair by a road hazard your vehicle will have to be towed.

Suspension and Handling

The A4 has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The Q50’s suspension doesn’t offer gas-charged shocks.

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the A4 is 1.4 inches wider in the front than the average track on the Q50.

The A4 Premium Plus handles at .97 G’s, while the Q50 Red Sport 400 pulls only .88 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

Chassis

The Audi A4 may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 300 to 350 pounds less than the Infiniti Q50.

Passenger Space

The A4 has .6 inches more rear headroom and .6 inches more rear legroom than the Q50.

Cargo Capacity

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the A4’s available trunk can be opened just by kicking your foot under the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The Q50 doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its trunk, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

Towing

The A4 has a 3968 lbs. towing capacity. The Q50 has no towing capacity.

Servicing Ease

J.D. Power and Associates surveys of service recipients show that Audi service is better than Infiniti. J.D. Power ranks Audi 8th in service department satisfaction (above the industry average). With a 3% lower rating, Infiniti is ranked 9th.

Ergonomics

The A4 Prestige has a standard heads-up display that projects speed, warning 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 Q50 doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The A4’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Q50’s parking brake has to be released manually.

The power windows standard on both the A4 and the Q50 have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the A4 is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Q50 prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

Heated windshield washer nozzles are standard on the A4 to prevent washer fluid and nozzles from freezing and help continue to keep the windshield clear in sub-freezing temperatures. The Q50 doesn’t offer heated windshield washer nozzles.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The A4’s available headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Q50’s headlights are rated “Acceptable” to “Marginal.”

In poor weather, headlights can lose their effectiveness as grime builds up on their lenses. This can reduce visibility without the driver realizing. The A4 Prestige has standard headlight washers to keep headlight output high. The Q50 doesn’t offer headlight washers.

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the A4 to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The Q50 doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

Both the A4 and the Q50 have standard heated front seats. The A4 Prestige also has standard heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the Q50.

Optional air-conditioned seats in the A4 (except Premium) keep the driver and front passenger comfortable and take the sting out of hot seats in Summer. The Q50 doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Audi A4 Premium Plus/Prestige has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. The Q50 doesn’t offer wireless personal charging.

The A4 Prestige’s Park Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, with the driver only controlling speed with the brake pedal. The Q50 doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Economic Advantages

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the A4 is less expensive to operate than the Q50 because typical repairs cost much less on the A4 than the Q50, including $47 less for fuel injection, $22 less for a timing belt/chain and $858 less for a power steering pump.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Audi A4 and the Infiniti Q50, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The Audi A4/S4 outsold the Infiniti Q50 by 25% during the 2021 model year.

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