Compare the2024 Audi Q8 e-tron SportbackVS 2023 Subaru Solterra

Safety
Warranty
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Transmission
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics

Safety

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The Q8 e-tron Sportback’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Solterra doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

Both the Q8 e-tron Sportback and Solterra have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Q8 e-tron Sportback 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 Solterra’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.

Earlier warning of stopped traffic, traffic signals, dangerous road conditions, weather, or accidents, can keep driver's safer and prevent crashes. The Q8 e-tron Sportback has Car-to-X Services, a system that seamlessly communicates important warnings to the driver about impending danger, if they're available. The Solterra doesn’t offer a system that can receive automated systems from infrastructure.

Both the Q8 e-tron Sportback and the Solterra have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front 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 Audi Q8 e-tron Sportback weighs 1293 to 1433 pounds more than the Subaru Solterra. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.

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 Q8 e-tron Sportback its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2022, a rating granted to only 131 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Solterra has not been fully tested, yet.

Warranty

The Q8 e-tron Sportback comes with a full 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Solterra’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 14,000 miles sooner.

The Q8 e-tron Sportback’s corrosion warranty is 7 years longer than the Solterra’s (12 vs. 5 years).

Engine

The Q8 e-tron Sportback’s standard electric motors produces 187 more horsepower (402 vs. 215) and 241 lbs.-ft. more torque (490 vs. 249) than the Solterra’s electric motors. The SQ8 e-tron Sportback’s standard electric motors produces 281 more horsepower (496 vs. 215) and 468 lbs.-ft. more torque (717 vs. 249) than the Solterra’s electric motors.

Fuel Economy and Range

The Q8 e-tron Sportback can travel longer on a full charge than the Solterra on a full charge:

			Miles
Q8 e-tron Sportback
	AWD	ultra Electric Motors	300 miles
		Electric Motors	296 miles
		SQ8 Electric Motors	253 miles
Solterra
	AWD	Premium Electric Motors	228 miles
		Limited/Touring Electric Motors	222 miles

The Q8 e-tron Sportback has a standard locking charge port which locks and unlocks with the power locks. The Solterra doesn’t have a locking charge port. A locking charge port prevents tampering and damage.

Transmission

The Q8 e-tron Sportback’s launch control uses engine electronics to hold engine RPM’s precisely in order to provide the most stable and rapid acceleration possible, using all of the available traction. The Solterra doesn’t offer launch control.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the Q8 e-tron Sportback’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Solterra:

	Q8 e-tron Sportback	Solterra
Front Rotors	15.7 inches	12.9 inches
Rear Rotors	13.8 inches	12.5 inches

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Q8 e-tron Sportback has larger standard tires than the Solterra (255/50R20 vs. 235/60R18). The Q8 e-tron Sportback Premium Plus/Prestige’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Solterra (265/45R21 vs. 235/60R18).

The Q8 e-tron Sportback Premium ultra’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 55 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Solterra Premium’s standard 60 series tires. The Q8 e-tron Sportback’s optional tires have a lower 40 series profile than the Solterra Limited/Touring’s 50 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Q8 e-tron Sportback Premium ultra has standard 19-inch wheels. Smaller 18-inch wheels are standard on the Solterra Premium. The Q8 e-tron Sportback’s optional 22-inch wheels are larger than the 20-inch wheels on the Solterra Limited/Touring.

The Q8 e-tron Sportback has a standard space-saver spare tire so you can replace a flat tire and drive to have the flat repaired or replaced. A spare tire isn’t available on the Solterra; it requires you to depend on roadside assistance and your vehicle will have to be towed.

Suspension and Handling

The front and rear suspension of the Q8 e-tron Sportback uses air springs for a smoother, controlled ride than the Solterra, which uses coil springs. Air springs maintain proper ride height and ride more smoothly.

The Q8 e-tron Sportback has a standard driver-adjustable suspension system. It allows the driver to choose between an extra-supple ride, reducing fatigue on long trips, or a sport setting, which allows maximum control for tricky roads or off-road. The Solterra’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

The Q8 e-tron Sportback has a standard automatic front and rear load leveling suspension to keep ride height level with a heavy load or when towing. The Q8 e-tron Sportback’s height leveling suspension allows the driver to raise ride height for better off-road clearance and then lower it again for easier entering and exiting and better on-road handling. The Solterra doesn’t offer a load leveling suspension.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Q8 e-tron Sportback’s wheelbase is 2.9 inches longer than on the Solterra (115.1 inches vs. 112.2 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Q8 e-tron Sportback is 1.7 inches wider in the front and 1.1 inches wider in the rear than on the Solterra.

Passenger Space

The Q8 e-tron Sportback has 6.3 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Solterra (102 vs. 95.7).

The Q8 e-tron Sportback has .8 inches more front shoulder room, 3.8 inches more rear legroom and 1.2 inches more rear shoulder room than the Solterra.

Cargo Capacity

Pulling a handle automatically lowers the Q8 e-tron Sportback’s rear seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The Solterra doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

A standard locking glovebox (which can’t be accessed with the valet key) keeps your small valuables safer in the Q8 e-tron Sportback. The Solterra doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the Q8 e-tron Sportback’s liftgate can be opened and closed just by kicking your foot under the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The Solterra doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its liftgate, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

Towing

The Q8 e-tron Sportback offers up to a 4000 lbs. towing capacity. The Solterra has no towing capacity.

Servicing Ease

The Q8 e-tron Sportback uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Solterra uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

J.D. Power and Associates surveys of service recipients show that Audi service is better than Subaru. J.D. Power ranks Audi 8th in service department satisfaction (above the industry average). With a 13% lower rating, Subaru is ranked 16th.

Ergonomics

Unlike the driver-only memory seat and mirrors in the Solterra Limited/Touring, the Q8 e-tron Sportback Prestige has a passenger memory, so that when drivers switch, the memory setting adjusts the driver’s seat, steering wheel position and outside mirror angle and the front passenger seat also adjusts to the new passenger’s preset preferences.

The Q8 e-tron Sportback Prestige has a standard heads-up display that projects speed and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Solterra doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Q8 e-tron Sportback’s power window, power lock and power mirror switches are lit from behind, making them plainly visible and easier to operate at night. The Solterra’s power window (except driver window) and power lock switches are unlit, making them difficult to find at night and operate safely.

The Q8 e-tron Sportback’s rain-sensitive wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically based on the amount of rainfall on the windshield. This allows the driver to concentrate on driving without constantly adjusting the wipers. The Solterra Premium’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the Q8 e-tron Sportback has a standard rear wiper. The Solterra doesn’t offer a rear wiper.

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the Q8 e-tron Sportback to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The Solterra doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

The Q8 e-tron Sportback’s standard rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Solterra has an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

Standard air conditioned seats in the front and rear seats keep the Q8 e-tron Sportback Premium Plus/Prestige’s passengers comfortable and take the sting out of hot leather in summer. The Solterra doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats in the rear.

The Q8 e-tron Sportback has a standard heated steering wheel to take the chill out of steering on extremely cold winter days before the vehicle heater warms up. A heated steering wheel is only available on the Solterra Limited/Touring.

The Q8 e-tron Sportback Prestige has standard massaging front seats in order to maximize comfort and eliminate fatigue on long trips. Massaging seats aren’t available in the Solterra.