In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the E-Class All-Terrain Wagon are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The A6 Allroad doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The E-Class All-Terrain Wagon has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The A6 Allroad doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.
The E-Class All-Terrain Wagon has standard whiplash protection, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the whiplash protection system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The A6 Allroad doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
The E-Class All-Terrain Wagon has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them and moves the vehicle back into its lane. A system to reveal vehicles in the A6 Allroad’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the E-Class All-Terrain Wagon has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Alert and Active Brake Assist automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Audi charges extra for Rear Cross-Traffic Assist on the A6 Allroad.
The E-Class All-Terrain Wagon’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The A6 Allroad doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the E-Class All-Terrain Wagon and the A6 Allroad have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee 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, around view monitors and available lane departure warning systems.