Compare the2023 Audi Q8VS 2023 Nissan Murano

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Passenger Space
Towing
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Economic Advantages

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 Nissan Murano doesn’t offer pretensioners for its 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 Murano doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

Both the Q8 and Murano 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 Murano’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 Murano 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 Murano.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Q8’s standard Hill Descent Assist allows you to creep down safely. The Murano doesn’t offer Hill Descent Assist.

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 Murano doesn’t offer a night vision system.

Both the Q8 and the Murano have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear 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 and available around view monitors.

The Audi Q8 weighs 839 to 1139 pounds more than the Nissan Murano. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.

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 Nissan Murano:

	Q8	Murano
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	238	266
Chest Compression	.5 inches	.7 inches
Neck Stress	120 lbs.	124 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	47/47 lbs.	169/236 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 Q8 is safer than the Nissan Murano:

	Q8	Murano
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	60	101
Chest Movement	.7 inches	.9 inches
Hip Force	260 lbs.	392 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	141	148
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	15 inches	17 inches
HIC	282	439

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

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 Murano’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 Murano’s (12 vs. 5 years).

Reliability

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Audi vehicles are more reliable than Nissan vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Audi 9 places higher in reliability than Nissan.

Engine

The Q8’s 3.0 turbo V6 hybrid produces 75 more horsepower (335 vs. 260) and 129 lbs.-ft. more torque (369 vs. 240) than the Murano’s 3.5 DOHC V6.

As tested in Motor Trend the Audi Q8 is faster than the Nissan Murano:

	Q8	Murano
Zero to 60 MPH	5.9 sec	7.4 sec
Quarter Mile	14.4 sec	15.6 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	97.6 MPH	91.8 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

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

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the Q8’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 Murano doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

The Q8 has 3.5 gallons more fuel capacity than the Murano (22.5 vs. 19 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

Brakes and Stopping

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

	Q8	Murano
Front Rotors	14.8 inches	12.6 inches
Rear Rotors	13.8 inches	12.1 inches

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Q8 has larger tires than the Murano (285/45R21 vs. 235/65R18).

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 Murano S/SV’s standard 65 series tires. The Q8 Premium Plus/Prestige’s optional tires have a lower 40 series profile than the Murano Midnight/SL/Platinum’s 55 series tires.

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

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 Murano’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Q8’s wheelbase is 6.7 inches longer than on the Murano (117.9 inches vs. 111.2 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Q8 is 1.5 inches wider in the front and 2.2 inches wider in the rear than on the Murano.

The Q8 Prestige handles at .83 G’s, while the Murano Platinum AWD pulls only .82 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Q8 Prestige executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Murano Platinum AWD (26.9 seconds @ .69 average G’s vs. 27.8 seconds @ .64 average G’s).

Passenger Space

The Q8 has 1.1 inches more front legroom and 1.5 inches more rear legroom than the Murano.

Towing

The Q8’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Murano’s (7700 vs. 1500 pounds).

Servicing Ease

The engine in the Q8 is mounted longitudinally (North-South), instead of sideways, as in the Murano. This makes it easier to service and maintain, because there are no rear spark plugs and the accessory belts are in front.

J.D. Power and Associates surveys of service recipients show that Audi service is better than Nissan. J.D. Power ranks Audi 8th in service department satisfaction (above the industry average). With a 16% lower rating, Nissan is ranked 18th.

Ergonomics

Unlike the driver-only memory system in the Murano SL/Platinum, 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 Murano 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 Murano’s parking brake has to be released manually.

The power windows standard on both the Q8 and the Murano have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Q8 is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Murano prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

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 Murano’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

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 Murano’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted. The Murano SV/Midnight/SL/Platinum’s intermittent wipers change speed with vehicle speed, but can’t turn on and off or change speed based on changing rainfall.

In poor weather, headlights can lose their effectiveness as grime builds up on their lenses. This can reduce visibility without the driver realizing. The Q8 has standard headlight washers to keep headlight output high. The Murano doesn’t offer headlight washers.

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 Murano doesn’t offer a rear or rear side window sunshades.

The Q8’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Nissan only offers heated mirrors on the Murano SV/Midnight/SL/Platinum.

The Q8’s standard rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Murano offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

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 Murano.

The Q8 Prestige’s Park Assist Plus can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. Remote Park Assist Plus will park and retrieve your car remotely: press a button and watch it park itself. This is ideal for tight locations. The Murano doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Economic Advantages

The Q8 will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The IntelliChoice estimates that the Q8 will retain 48.72% to 49.32% of its original price after five years, while the Murano only retains 46.1% to 47.26%.

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