In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the XC40 are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Q5 Sportback doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Volvo XC40 has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Q5 Sportback doesn’t offer knee airbags.
The XC40 has a standard Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS), which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the WHIPS allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. At the same time the pretensioning seatbelts fire, removing slack from the belts. The Q5 Sportback doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The XC40 has a standard CTA Auto Brake that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Q5 Sportback doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The XC40’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 Q5 Sportback doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the XC40 and the Q5 Sportback 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, all wheel drive, 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 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Volvo XC40 is safer than the Audi Q5 Sportback:
|
XC40 |
Q5 Sportback |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
200 |
284 |
Neck Stress |
209 lbs. |
215 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
25 lbs. |
44 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Chest Compression |
.5 inches |
.7 inches |
Neck Injury Risk |
31% |
34% |
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 Volvo XC40 is safer than the Audi Q5 Sportback:
|
XC40 |
Q5 Sportback |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
119 |
185 |
Spine Acceleration |
48 G’s |
53 G’s |
Hip Force |
755 lbs. |
817 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
13 inches |
15 inches |
Spine Acceleration |
33 G’s |
35 G’s |
Hip Force |
411 lbs. |
600 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.