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 Ariya doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
Both the Q8 e-tron Sportback and Ariya 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 Ariya’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 e-tron Sportback’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 Ariya doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
The Q8 e-tron Sportback 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 Ariya 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 Q8 e-tron Sportback. But it costs extra on the Ariya.
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 Ariya doesn’t offer a system that can receive automated systems from infrastructure.
Both the Q8 e-tron Sportback and Ariya have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Q8 e-tron Sportback has Automatic Brake Activation (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Ariya’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert doesn’t automatically brake.
Both the Q8 e-tron Sportback and the Ariya 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, 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 and available around view monitors.
The Audi Q8 e-tron Sportback weighs 741 to 1475 pounds more than the Nissan Ariya. 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 e-tron Sportback is safer than the Nissan Ariya:
|
Q8 e-tron Sportback |
Ariya |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
Neck Injury Risk |
23% |
45.3% |
Neck Stress |
253 lbs. |
387 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
16 lbs. |
57 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
137/335 lbs. |
272/267 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
Chest Compression |
.5 inches |
.8 inches |
Neck Injury Risk |
38% |
43.4% |
Neck Stress |
157 lbs. |
226 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
244/319 lbs. |
293/289 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 e-tron Sportback is safer than the Nissan Ariya:
|
Q8 e-tron Sportback |
Ariya |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
44 |
85 |
Chest Movement |
.7 inches |
.8 inches |
Abdominal Force |
117 lbs. |
155 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
8 inches |
8 inches |
Hip Force |
631 lbs. |
1022 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.