The Charger SRT has standard Active Head Restraints, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Active Head Restraints system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The S7 doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
The Charger SRT has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the S7’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Charger SRT has standard Rear Cross Path Detection, helping the driver avoid collisions. Audi charges extra for rear cross-path warning on the S7.
Both the Charger SRT and the S7 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights and rearview cameras.
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 Dodge Charger SRT is safer than the Audi S7:
|
Charger SRT |
S7 |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Hip Force |
243 lbs. |
716 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
270 |
395 |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.