For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Audi RS 6 have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Dodge Charger SRT doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The RS 6’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Charger SRT doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
Both the RS 6 and Charger SRT have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The RS 6 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 Charger SRT’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 RS 6 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 Charger SRT doesn’t offer knee airbags.
The RS 6 has standard Pre Sense Front, which use forward mounted sensors to warn the driver of a possible collision ahead. If the driver doesn’t react and the system determines a collision is imminent, it automatically applies the brakes at full-force in order to reduce the force of the crash or avoid it altogether. The Charger SRT doesn't offer collision warning or crash mitigation brakes.
The RS 6 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 Charger SRT 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.
The RS 6 has all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Charger SRT doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.
A passive infrared night vision system optional on the RS 6 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 Charger SRT doesn’t offer a night vision system.
The RS 6’s lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. The Charger SRT doesn’t offer a lane departure warning system.
The RS 6 has a standard Top and Corner View Cameras to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Charger SRT only offers a rear monitor and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the front or sides.
Both the RS 6 and the Charger SRT 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, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems 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 RS 6 is safer than the Dodge Charger SRT:
|
RS 6 |
Charger SRT |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
292/435 lbs. |
582/440 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
Chest Compression |
.5 inches |
.7 inches |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
263/331 lbs. |
267/469 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 RS 6 is safer than the Dodge Charger SRT:
|
RS 6 |
Charger SRT |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
135 |
138 |
Chest Movement |
.9 inches |
1.4 inches |
Abdominal Force |
174 lbs. |
212 lbs. |
Hip Force |
262 lbs. |
372 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
135 |
164 |
Spine Acceleration |
43 G’s |
44 G’s |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
13 inches |
15 inches |
Spine Acceleration |
39 G’s |
48 G’s |
Hip Force |
514 lbs. |
692 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.