Martin Reuben

All of the acronyms and descriptions for the various safely features are becoming alphabet soup inside my head.

Could we start a discussion comparing the safety features between the 2nd generation Q5 and the just announced XC60?

Thanks!

ZCD2.7T

Both have collision mitigation braking system of some kind, and both will certainly have 5-star across the board crash test ratings from the NHTSA as well as "IIHS Top Safety Pick+" certification.

Honestly, I don't think there will be much to differentiate the 2 models in real-world safety results. Volvo may have made safety an integral part of their marketing, but modern Audis are arguably just as safe...

farmerjones

While the Q5 will certainly offer tons of safety, the Volvo does offer a few more "world firsts and features the Audi doesn't have. Pedestrian detection, large animal detection, run-off-road mitigation, spine-protecting seat cushions that actively move to absorb shock loads, physically moving seats to mitigate whiplash, a now the system can steer you away from rear ending someone when braking alone will not avoid the impact along with the worlds first system that actively will steer you out of the way of an on-coming head-on collision. And Volvo continues to be the only manufacturer that will repeatedly barrel-role a SUV onto it's roof and release the footage showing it barely phases the structure.

I drive an Audi (after 4 Volvos in a row), and I know it's very safe, but I'd never bet agains a Volvo being on the cutting edge, as they continue to have a safety research center unlike any other auto company. Simply put, Volvo has analyzed more real-world accounts than anyone (because the government assists them in this effort) and they simply can perform real-life crash-tests that no other brand is capable (because it's a one-of-a-kind facility). Every year Volvo has introduced a new "world-first" feature, and I think their commitment to safety is waaaaay more than marketing. After all, their public commitment is no one to be severely injured or killed in a Volvo by 2020...that's a pretty ambitions mission statement by an auto company, but it's clear it's not marketing hype. They are quickly moving to make that happen with innovations. Almost all of these advanced safety features that costs thousands of dollars as options on many brands are basically standard on every Volvo, going all the way back to 2011. Experience has to count for something! Clearly they have driven the entire industry to move forward on safety, and we can all get on board with that!

SYMAWD

The new Q5 will offer turn assist, pre sense basic/ city/ rear, exit assist, rear cross traffic assist, lane keep assist, traffic sign recognition, auto high beams, ACC with stop and go and traffic jam assist, and collision avoidance assist where the front camera can detect vehicle width, so it can help apply the appropriate amount of steering intervention needed to avoid hitting the vehicle in front without over-correcting.

farmerjones

I've never seen any documentation from Audi that any of their cars are capable of steering to avoid a rear end or head on collision. Are you sure this is included? I also don't think the Q5 will steer the car to keep it within the lane should you drift out or attempt to turn into a car next to you. Sometimes I hate how vague Audi is in describing features. I was under the impression Volvo was the first to offer this feature in this price range. Perhaps the Audi can do this, but I've not ever seen it spelled out.

SYMAWD

From a Q7 brochure. The Q5 will offer the same when equipped with DAP.

"Collision avoidance assist
In the event that a sharp maneuver is needed,
the available Audi pre sense plus includes Collision
avoidance assist that helps the driver when
turning into the adjacent lane. The system
computes a suitable path for the vehicle and
provides steering inputs to help the driver stay
on the intended path."

https://www.audiusa.com/content/dam/...7-brochure.pdf

And active lane assist (part of DAP) will make steering inputs to help it maintain its lane.

farmerjones

These do not seem to be the same functions the Volvo performs. The Volvo actively decides if it needs to steer away and will initiate moving the car without any input from the driver. This seems a very different description from the Q7. The Volvo actively decides if a collision is imitate and takes action to avoid. Again, I'm no expert but the Audi doesn't seem to be doing anything of the sort. The Audi seems to assist what the driver is doing, while the Volvo actively will move the car in a direction the driver is not steering towards. While the Audi will self-steer to keep you in a lane, I don't see any documentation where it will actively stop the driver from steering the car into a sideswipe scenario independently from the directing the driver is turning the wheel. I'm pretty sure the Volvo is very different and much more advanced. I'm not picking on the Audi at all, don't get me wrong. I just don't think these features are on any Audi.

SYMAWD

Yes, the Audi requires some sort of driver intervention. It will not steer on its own to avoid a collision.

farmerjones

I guess that's a major distinction then between the Audi system and the Volvo system. It is a pretty big difference, too. The Volvo systems are really advanced, and I always find it interesting in the Euro NCAP test how much of a difference in score the Volvo system always has over competitive systems. It seems even when the systems work in similar ways the Volvo's is more refined and just seems to work better overall. I've been disappointed on how poorly the implementation of MB new systems on the E class have been reviewed. They sound amazing on paper but don't seem to work all that well in real life for some reason....

ZCD2.7T

Probably so.

To clarify, I didn't mean to suggest that Volvo's safety innovations were marketing hype - everyone who's paying attention knows that they're on the forefront of safety research, and they rightly play that up in their marketing, which they should. They're extremely safe vehicles...

Looking at real-world results, modern Audis have also proven to be extremely safe. Take a look at this list:

Driver death rates

...and filter for "2011 and equivalent" "midsize" "luxury cars"... There's the Audi A4 at the top of the list with ZERO fatalities...