Earlier warning of stopped traffic, traffic signals, dangerous road conditions, weather, or accidents, can keep driver's safer and prevent crashes. The Q7 has Car-to-X Services, a system that seemlesly communicates important warnings to the driver about impending danger, if they're available. The XC90 doesn’t offer a system that can receive automated systems from infrastructure.
A passive infrared night vision system optional on the Q7 Prestige helps the driver to more easily detect people, animals or other objects in front of the vehicle at night. Using an infrared camera to detect heat, the system then displays the image on a monitor in the dashboard. The XC90 doesn’t offer a night vision system.
Both the Q7 and the XC90 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear 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 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 Q7 is safer than the Volvo XC90:
|
Q7 |
XC90 |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Abdominal Force |
128 lbs. |
153 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 Q7 is safer than the XC90:
|
Q7 |
XC90 |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Structure |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
86 |
123 |
Neck Tension |
223 lbs. |
245 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Torso Max Deflection |
.94 in |
1.42 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
5 MPH |
7 MPH |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
40 |
124 |
Neck Compression |
45 lbs. |
67 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Shoulder Deflection |
.43 in |
1.38 in |
Shoulder Force |
134 lbs. |
290 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.1 in |
1.42 in |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Pelvis Force |
803 lbs. |
915 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |