For enhanced safety, the front and middle seat shoulder belts of the Infiniti QX60 are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The Audi Q7 doesn’t offer height-adjustable middle seat belts.
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 QX60 are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Q7 doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Infiniti QX60 has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Q7 doesn’t offer knee airbags.
The QX60 Autograph has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Q7 doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.
The QX60 Luxe/Sensory/Autograph’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 Q7 doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the QX60 and the Q7 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, 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 all wheel drive and 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 Infiniti QX60 is safer than the Audi Q7:
|
QX60 |
Q7 |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
Chest Compression |
.6 inches |
.7 inches |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the Infiniti QX60 is safer than the Q7:
|
QX60 |
Q7 |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Restraints |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Neck Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head injury index |
109 |
225 |
Peak Head Forces |
0 G’s |
0 G’s |
Chest Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Max Chest Compression |
25 cm |
30 cm |
Hip & Thigh Evaluation |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Hip & Thigh Injury Risk R/L |
0%/0% |
4%/0% |
Lower Leg Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Tibia index R/L |
.54/.36 |
.57/.7 |
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 Infiniti QX60 is safer than the Audi Q7:
|
QX60 |
Q7 |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
84 |
187 |
Hip Force |
244 lbs. |
350 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
88 |
337 |
Spine Acceleration |
33 G’s |
62 G’s |
Hip Force |
461 lbs. |
888 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
234 |
290 |
Spine Acceleration |
37 G’s |
40 G’s |
Hip Force |
466 lbs. |
557 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, daytime pedestrian crash prevention, and nighttime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the QX60 its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 36 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Q7 last would have qualified as only a standard “Top Safety Pick” in 2017.