The Q3’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Corsair doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
Both the Q3 and Corsair have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Q3 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 Corsair’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.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Q3. But it costs extra on the Corsair.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Q3’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The Corsair doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.
Both the Q3 and the Corsair have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee 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, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available around view monitors.
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, results indicate that the Audi Q3 is safer than the Lincoln Corsair:
|
Q3 |
Corsair |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
88 |
197 |
Chest Movement |
.7 inches |
.9 inches |
Abdominal Force |
95 lbs. |
191 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Hip Force |
632 lbs. |
816 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Audi Q3 is safer than the Corsair:
|
Q3 |
Corsair |
Overall Evaluation |
ACCEPTABLE |
MARGINAL |
Structure |
ACCEPTABLE |
ACCEPTABLE |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
190 |
391 |
Head Peak Forces |
no contact |
93 G’s |
Neck Tension |
335 lbs. |
379 lbs. |
Torso |
ACCEPTABLE |
MARGINAL |
Shoulder Deflection |
1.06 in |
1.1 in |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.22 in |
1.77 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
6 MPH |
8 MPH |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Neck Tension |
112 lbs. |
201 lbs. |
Torso |
ACCEPTABLE |
ACCEPTABLE |
Pelvis |
ACCEPTABLE |
ACCEPTABLE |
Pelvis Force |
1049 lbs. |
1093 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
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 front crash prevention system, and its headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Q3 its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2019, a rating granted to only 134 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Corsair is only a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2019.