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 HR-V doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
Both the Q3 and HR-V 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 HR-V’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 Q3 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 HR-V doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.
The Q3 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 HR-V 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 Q3. But it costs extra on the HR-V.
The Q3 offers an optional Top View Camera System to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The HR-V 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 Audi Q3 offers an optional Top View Camera System and it also offers an optional rear camera washer to make backing always safe, regardless of road dirt or grime, while the Honda HR-V doesn’t offer a camera washer, requiring manual cleaning.
The Q3 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. Only the HR-V Sport/EX-L offers a blind spot warning system.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Q3 has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Assist and Automatic Brake Activation automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Only the HR-V Sport/EX-L offers Cross Traffic Monitor and the HR-V’s Cross Traffic Monitor does not include automatic braking.
Both the Q3 and the HR-V have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact 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, rearview cameras and driver alert monitors.
The Audi Q3 weighs 599 to 776 pounds more than the Honda HR-V. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.

