Using vehicle speed sensors and seat sensors, smart airbags in the E-Pace deploy with different levels of force to help better protect passengers of all sizes in different collisions. The E-Pace’s side airbags will shut off if a child is leaning against the door. The A4 Allroad’s side airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.
The E-Pace has a standard blind spot warning system which uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them and moves the vehicle back into its lane. A system to reveal vehicles in the A4 Allroad’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the E-Pace has a standard rear cross-path warning system, which uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. Rear cross-path warning costs extra on the A4 Allroad.
The E-Pace’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 A4 Allroad doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the E-Pace and the A4 Allroad have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and available around view monitors.