For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Audi Q7 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 L doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.
The Q7’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 L doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
Both the Q7 and Grand Cherokee L have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Q7 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 L’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 Q7 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 L 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 Q7. But it costs extra on the Grand Cherokee L.
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 seamlessly communicates important warnings to the driver about impending danger, if they're available. The Grand Cherokee L doesn’t offer a system that can receive automated systems from infrastructure.
Both the Q7 and Grand Cherokee L have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Q7 has Automatic Brake Activation (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Grand Cherokee L’s Rear Cross Path Detection doesn’t automatically brake.
Both the Q7 and the Grand Cherokee L 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.
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 Grand Cherokee L:
|
Q7 |
Grand Cherokee L |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Structure |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
86 |
163 |
Neck Tension |
223 lbs. |
312 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Torso Max Deflection |
.94 in |
1.3 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
5 MPH |
7 MPH |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
40 |
96 |
Neck Compression |
45 lbs. |
134 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Shoulder Deflection |
.43 in |
1.38 in |
Shoulder Force |
134 lbs. |
268 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.1 in |
1.69 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
9 MPH |
11 MPH |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Pelvis Force |
803 lbs. |
915 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
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 “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Q7 its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2022, a rating granted to only 130 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Grand Cherokee L has not been fully tested, yet.