The Q3’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Countryman doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Audi Q3 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 MINI Countryman doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.
Both the Q3 and Countryman have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Q3 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 Countryman’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 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tests front crash prevention systems. With a score of 6 points, IIHS rates the Pre Sense Front in the Q3 as “Superior.” The Countryman scores only 3 points and is rated only “Advanced.”
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Q3. But it costs extra on the Countryman.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Q3’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The Countryman doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.
The Q3 Premium Plus has a standard Top View Camera System to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Countryman only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.
The Q3’s blind spot warning system uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. The Countryman doesn’t offer a system to reveal objects in the driver’s blind spots.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Q3’s standard Rear Cross-Traffic Assist uses sensors in the rear to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side and Automatic Brake Activation automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. The Countryman doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.
Both the Q3 and the Countryman have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems and rearview cameras.
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 front crash prevention system, and its headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Q3 its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2019, a rating granted to only 127 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Countryman has not been fully tested, yet.