The Q8’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Edge doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
Both the Q8 and Edge have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Q8 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 Edge’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 Q8’s standard pretensioning seatbelts also sense rear collisions and remove slack from the seatbelts to help protect the occupants from whiplash and other injuries. The Edge doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Q8 has standard backup collision prevention system that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Edge doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Q8’s standard Hill Descent Assist allows you to creep down safely. The Edge doesn’t offer Hill Descent Assist.
Earlier warning of stopped traffic, traffic signals, dangerous road conditions, weather, or accidents, can keep driver's safer and prevent crashes. The Q8 has Car-to-X Services, a system that seamlessly communicates important warnings to the driver about impending danger, if they're available. The Edge doesn’t offer a system that can receive automated systems from infrastructure.
A passive infrared night vision system optional on the Q8 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 Edge doesn’t offer a night vision system.
The Q8 offers an optional Top View Cameras to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Edge 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.
Both the Q8 and Edge have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Q8 has Automatic Brake Activation (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Edge’s Cross Traffic Alert doesn’t automatically brake.
Both the Q8 and the Edge 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 and rear cross-path warning.
The Audi Q8 weighs 534 to 927 pounds more than the Ford Edge. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Audi Q8 is safer than the Ford Edge:
|
|
Q8 |
Edge |
|
|
Passenger |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| HIC |
238 |
282 |
| Neck Injury Risk |
34% |
35.2% |
| Neck Stress |
120 lbs. |
197 lbs. |
| Leg Forces (l/r) |
47/47 lbs. |
145/201 lbs. |
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 Audi Q8 is safer than the Ford Edge:
|
|
Q8 |
Edge |
|
|
Front Seat |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| HIC |
60 |
84 |
| Chest Movement |
.7 inches |
1.1 inches |
| Abdominal Force |
128 lbs. |
190 lbs. |
|
|
Into Pole |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| Max Damage Depth |
15 inches |
16 inches |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
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 “Acceptable” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Q8 its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2022, a rating granted to only 131 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Edge is only a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2022.