Compare the2023 Audi Q8VS 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee

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 Jeep Grand Cherokee 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 Grand Cherokee doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

Both the Q8 and Grand Cherokee 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 Grand Cherokee’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’s standard pretensioning seatbelts also sense rear collisions and remove slack from the seatbelts to help protect the occupants from whiplash and other injuries. The Grand Cherokee doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

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 Grand Cherokee 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 Grand Cherokee.

Both the Q8 and the Grand Cherokee 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, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, available night vision systems and around view monitors.

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 standard headlight’s “Acceptable” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Q8 its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2022, a rating granted to only 127 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Grand Cherokee has not been tested, yet.

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 Grand Cherokee’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 Grand Cherokee’s (12 vs. 5 years).

For smoother operation, better efficiency and fewer moving parts, the Q8 has an overhead cam design, rather than the old pushrod design of the 5.7 V8 in the Grand Cherokee.

A reliable vehicle saves its owner time, money and trouble. Nobody wants to be stranded or have to be without a vehicle while it’s being repaired. Consumer Reports rates the Q8’s reliability 23 points higher than the Grand Cherokee.

The Q8’s 3.0 turbo V6 hybrid produces 42 more horsepower (335 vs. 293) and 109 lbs.-ft. more torque (369 vs. 260) than the Grand Cherokee’s standard 3.6 DOHC V6.

As tested in Motor Trend the Audi Q8 is faster than the Jeep Grand Cherokee V6:

On the EPA test cycle the Q8 gets better fuel mileage than the Grand Cherokee 5.7 OHV V8 running its gasoline engine (18 city/23 hwy vs. 14 city/22 hwy).

Both the Q8 and the Grand Cherokee V6/4xe have a standard automatic start/stop engine feature to stop unnecessary fuel waste and pollution at stoplights and heavy traffic. All Q8s have a standard disable switch for the system, so a driver can keep the engine from shutting off when the vehicle stops temporarily. A disable switch for start/stop is only offered on the Grand Cherokee V6.

The Q8 has 3.5 gallons more fuel capacity than the Grand Cherokee 4xe Hybrid’s standard fuel tank (22.5 vs. 19 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

The Q8 has a standard locking fuel door with a remote release located convenient to the driver. The fuel filler door is not lockable on the Grand Cherokee. A locking fuel door helps prevent fuel theft and vandalism, such as sugar in the tank.

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

The Q8 stops shorter than the Grand Cherokee:

For better traction, the Q8 has larger tires than the Grand Cherokee (285/45R21 vs. 245/70R17). The Q8’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Grand Cherokee (285/45R21 vs. 275/45R21).

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 Grand Cherokee Laredo’s standard 70 series tires. The Q8 Premium Plus/Prestige’s optional tires have a lower 40 series profile than the Grand Cherokee Summit’s optional 45 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Q8 has standard 21-inch wheels. Smaller 17-inch wheels are standard on the Grand Cherokee Laredo. The Q8 Premium Plus/Prestige’s optional 22-inch wheels are larger than the 21-inch wheels optional on the Grand Cherokee Summit.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Q8’s wheelbase is 1.2 inches longer than on the Grand Cherokee (117.9 inches vs. 116.7 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Q8 is .7 inches wider in the front and 1.4 inches wider in the rear than on the Grand Cherokee.

The Q8 Prestige handles at .83 G’s, while the Grand Cherokee Overland 4x4 pulls only .60 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Q8 Prestige executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.2 seconds quicker than the Grand Cherokee Limited 4x4 (26.9 seconds @ .69 average G’s vs. 28.1 seconds @ .58 average G’s).

The Q8 has .3 inches more front legroom, .3 inches more front shoulder room, 2 inches more rear legroom and .5 inches more rear shoulder room than the Grand Cherokee.

The front step up height for the Q8 is .7 inches lower than the Grand Cherokee (19.5” vs. 20.2”). The Q8’s rear step up height is 1.7 inches lower than the Grand Cherokee’s (19.8” vs. 21.5”).

The Q8’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Grand Cherokee’s (7700 vs. 3500 pounds).

J.D. Power and Associates surveys of service recipients show that Audi service is better than Jeep. J.D. Power ranks Audi 8th in service department satisfaction (above the industry average). With a 31% lower rating, Jeep is ranked 26th.

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

If the windows are left open on the Q8 the driver can close them all at the outside door handle or from a distance using the remote. On a hot day the driver can lower the windows from a distance using the keyless remote. The driver of the Grand Cherokee can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

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 Grand Cherokee’s standard 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 Grand Cherokee 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 Grand Cherokee doesn’t offer a rear sunshade.

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 Grand Cherokee Summit’s automatic parking system requires operating the brakes and transmission to safely park and it doesn’t offer remote control parking.