Compare the2025 Acura ZDXVS 2025 Audi Q6 e-tron

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Acura ZDX have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Audi Q6 e-tron doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

The Acura ZDX has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags help prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Q6 e-tron doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The ZDX’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 Q6 e-tron doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

In a Vehicle-to-Vehicle Frontal Crash Prevention 2.0 test conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the Acura ZDX achieved a “Good” rating - the highest possible - for its performance in forward collision warning and automatic braking systems, demonstrating its excellent capabilities in preventing collisions. The Audi Q6 e-tron has not been tested.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The ZDX has standard Reverse Automatic Braking that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Q6 e-tron doesn’t offer automatic braking for stationary objects directly to the rear.

Both the ZDX and the Q6 e-tron have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, 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.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Acura vehicles are better in initial quality than Audi vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Acura above average in initial quality. With 49 more problems per 100 vehicles, Audi is rated below average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Acura vehicles are more reliable than Audi With 59 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Acura higher than Audi.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ March 2025 Auto Issue reports that Acura vehicles are more reliable than Audi vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Acura 2 places higher in reliability than Audi.

The ZDX has more powerful engines than the Q6 e-tron:

As tested in Motor Trend the ZDX Type S electric motors is faster than the Q6 e-tron Premium Quattro electric motors:

The ZDX can travel longer on a full charge than the Q6 e-tron on a full charge:

The ZDX stops shorter than the Q6 e-tron:

For better traction, the ZDX has larger standard tires than the Q6 e-tron (265/50R20 vs. 235/60R19). The ZDX Type S’ tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Q6 e-tron (275/40R22 vs. 255/50R20).

The ZDX A-Spec’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 50 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Q6 e-tron Ultra’s standard 65 series front and 60 series rear tires. The ZDX Type S’ tires have a lower 40 series profile than the Q6 e-tron SQ6’s optional 45 series front tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the ZDX A-Spec has standard 20-inch wheels. Smaller 18-inch wheels are standard on the Q6 e-tron Ultra. The ZDX Type S’ 22-inch wheels are larger than the 21-inch wheels optional on the Q6 e-tron SQ6.

The Acura ZDX’s wheels have 6 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Audi Q6 e-tron only has 5 wheel lugs per wheel.

The ZDX has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The Q6 e-tron doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the ZDX’s wheelbase is 8.1 inches longer than on the Q6 e-tron (121.8 inches vs. 113.7 inches).

The ZDX Type S handles at .86 G’s, while the Q6 e-tron Prestige Quattro pulls only .83 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The ZDX has 1.6 inches more front legroom, .3 inches more front shoulder room, 2 inches more rear legroom and 1.2 inches more rear shoulder room than the Q6 e-tron.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the ZDX’s rear seats recline. The Q6 e-tron’s rear seats don’t recline.

The ZDX has a larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Q6 e-tron with its rear seat folded (63 vs. 60.2 cubic feet).

Pressing a switch automatically lowers the ZDX’s rear seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The Q6 e-tron doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

Standard Trailer Sway Control on the ZDX uses the Vehicle Stability Assist sensors to detect trailer sway, then uses individual brakes to counteract any swaying and help keep the tow vehicle and trailer steady. The Q6 e-tron doesn’t offer electronic trailer sway control.

J.D. Power and Associates surveys of service recipients show that Acura service is better than Audi. J.D. Power ranks Acura 6th in service department satisfaction (above the industry average). With a 15% lower rating, Audi is ranked 18th.

Unlike the driver-only memory system in the Q6 e-tron, the ZDX Type S has a passenger memory, so that when drivers switch, the memory setting adjusts the driver’s seat and the front passenger seat also adjusts to the new passenger’s preset preferences.

The ZDX 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 costs extra on the Q6 e-tron.

The ZDX Type S has a 115-volt a/c outlet on the center console, allowing you to recharge a laptop or run small household appliances without special adapters that can break or get misplaced. The Q6 e-tron doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

The Acura ZDX outsold the Audi Q6 by almost four to one during 2024.