► CAR lives with an Audi Q5
► Our car is a TFSI S line...
► ...and it has big shoes to fill
Month seven living with an Audi Q5 TFSI: we still like cars, promise!
Like a graphic design guru with a secret admiration for Comic Sans, there are things people interested in cars aren’t meant to like, or at least not admit to liking. Such as: automatic transmissions, autonomous cars and SUVs.
Disgruntled reader Christopher Lloyd (not that one, though it sounds like he’d be keen to jet back to 1955) wrote to us recently to question our passion for cars after I said you’d be mad not to pick an Alfa Stelvio SUV over the Giulia saloon (which has no estate derivative).
Surely we’re past SUV hating? If you don’t need practicality, buy a sports car. If you do need practicality get an SUV or crossover. Modern versions are actually nothing more than differently shaped cars, and make much better family vehicles than saloons. And 14,000 miles with this Q5 has us convinced it’s the best of the bunch this side of a much more expensive Porsche Macan.
Our Q5 S-Line came loaded with a massive £11k-worth of options including air suspension and a wheel upgrade, a head-up display, panoramic roof and two techy option packs. But according to Audi the average option spend on a Q5 in the UK is only £2700. With that budget I’d probably go for the £1295 Comfort and Sound Pack (B&O hi-fi, keyless entry and reversing camera) and blow the rest on a smart metallic paint and the very clever Matrix LED headlamps that adapt to traffic situations and even factor in sat-nav data.
We could have saved another grand if we’d picked the 2.0 TDI over our 2.0 TFSI petrol, but the 248bhp TFSI’s sparky nature worked well with the Q5’s air suspension and it was still capable of acceptable-ish 35mpg motorway consumption. For a big chunk of Q5 buyers, that’s apparently enough: the TFSI accounts for a strong 27 per cent of sales.
Despite arriving at the Sports Car Giant Test in Wales with smoke billowing from the brakes (got a bit carried away driving up the A5), the brakes and the tyres survived 14,000 miles with CAR. The only costs were a drop of oil midway through the loan and a big bottle of T-Cut to help get rid of the scratches inflicted by Devon’s hedge-lined lanes.
Audis run either fixed 9000-mile service intervals or flexible schedules that can last up to 18,000, depending how you drive. Ours asked for a service at 15,000, which – considering it was little more than an oil change and a quick check of the brake wear – seemed on the expensive side at £300. Still, the staff at Plymouth Audi were great, and the only real pain was having to return a week later to shell out another £300 (all but 11p) to give our family 66-plate A4 Avant the same treatment when, by coincidence, that also told us it needed a service. My partner preferred driving that A4 when given a choice of estate or SUV. The A4 is a great car, but I always took the Q5.
I liked the airier cabin, my kids liked sitting high and the dog appreciated the bigger boot and more upright rear window. And when I had the car and the roads to myself, the S-Tronic gearbox in manual and the Drive Select in Dynamic mode, I didn’t feel like I was missing out by driving an SUV. In fact, when the lease on our A4 is up next year I’ll be tempted to replace it with a Q5. Don’t worry, I still like cars.
Logbook: Audi Q5 2.0 TFSI S line
Engine 1984cc 16v turbo 4cyl, 249bhp @ 5000-6000rpm, 237lb ft @ 1600-4500rpm
Gearbox 7-speed dual-clutch, four-wheel drive
Stats 6.3sec 0-62mph, 147mph, 159g/km
Price £40,170
As tested £51,085
Miles this month 2737
Total 15593
Our mpg 30.0mpg
Official mpg 39.8mpg
Fuel this month £498.18
Extra costs T-Cut £9, service £300
Count the cost: Audi Q5 2.0 TFSI S line
Cost new £51,085 (including £10,915 in options)
Dealer sale price £45,319
Private sale price £42,504
Part-ex price £41,099
Cost per mile 20.5p
Cost per mile including depreciation 91.7p
Month six living with an Audi Q5 TFSI: a relentless roadie
You wouldn't have seen our Audi Q5 in our 2017 Sports Car Giant Test, but we couldn't have pulled the feature together without it.
Like the consummate roadie, the Audi worked tirelessly behind the scenes, ferrying photographers and their kit around and providing shelter from the occasionally inclement Welsh weather, while also operating as a mobile canteen and rubbish dump. The ability to slide and recline the rear seats proved handy (that's the £350 Rear Seat Plus option), and the way the seats lock down securely when folded is a nice touch.
We also made use of the panoramic sunroof (£1400) for some of the tracking shots you saw in the feature, while the pricey £2000 air suspension option proved it was worth every penny at literally every turn trying to keep up with the supercars between shooting locations.
It's easy to think that air suspension is an unnecessary, expensive gimmick, that adaptive dampers on steel springs can offer the same deal. But they can't, and I'm constantly amazed how different the Q5 feels when switched between Comfort or Auto and Dynamic (which you do using the badly positioned Drive Select controller).
At SCGT the Q5's Comfort mode delivered the supple ride needed to help Tom Salt nail those sharp tracking shots, and Dynamic the body control to keep up with the supercars as we flew from one location to the next. Whether or not you're carrying a bootful of photographer, this means comfort when you want it and pointy handling when you'd rather.
So the air is a big hit, with a couple of caveats. First, you're unlikely to get your money back at sale time, and second, if you plan on buying a Q5 to keep for a decade or so, you can probably expect it to flop on its belly like a clinically obese sausage dog at some point when the system wears out. You only have to look at the number of 'spares or repairs' Mk1 A6 Allroads (or any old car with air ride) needing a suspension overhaul – or conversion to old-tech coils – to see what's coming.
But let's not worry about life as an old nail down the road. Let's live for the moment, which, sadly, is about all we've got left before Audi takes the Q5 away.
By Chris Chilton
Logbook: Audi Q5 2.0 TFSI S line
Engine 1984cc 16v turbo 4cyl, 249bhp @ 5000-6000rpm, 237lb ft @ 1600-4500rpm
Gearbox 7-speed dual-clutch, four-wheel drive
Stats 6.3sec 0-62mph, 147mph, 159g/km
Price £40,170
As tested £51,085
Miles this month 1955
Total 12856
Our mpg 30.9mpg
Official mpg 39.8mpg
Fuel this month £342.57
Extra costs £0
Month five living with an Audi Q5 TFSI: sci-fi back then ain't so sci-fi now
From one four-wheel drive to a very different other. Here’s the Q5 at import specialist Torque GT, where I was making a video about a very rare (and at £120k, very expensive) Skyline GT-R Nür.
Remember how sci-fi the R34’s dash-top display looked 15 years ago with those digital dials? The Q5’s crisp ‘virtual’ Instruments make it look comically low-res now, but the R34 is still fabulous to drive. Not much room for the dog though, so I’ll stick with the Audi.
Logbook: Audi Q5 2.0 TFSI S line
Engine 1984cc 16v turbo 4cyl, 249bhp @ 5000-6000rpm, 237lb ft @ 1600-4500rpm
Gearbox 7-speed dual-clutch, four-wheel drive
Stats 6.3sec 0-62mph, 147mph, 159g/km
Price £40,170
As tested £51,085
Miles this month 1721
Total 10901
Our mpg 30.9mpg
Official mpg 40.4mpg
Fuel this month £299.50
Extra costs £0
Month four living with an Audi Q5 TFSI: no off-roader and better for it
The roads are so full of slick road-biased SUVs and crossovers that sometimes it’s hard to imagine that they haven’t always been around.
But shooting the Alfa Stelvio Giant Test reminded us how different things were only 25 years ago. Cliff, the man with keys to – and giant mental map of – Walters Arena, the off-road playground at the foot of the Brecon Beacons, served up the reminder with his original pre-facelift circa-1993 Land Rover Discovery.
Judging by the paint scheme and stickers, it was once a competitor in the gruelling Camel Trophy off-road adventure race. Judging by the way it waded through a massive pit of muddy water while we minced around at the side in our three premium SUVs on pristine road-spec rubber, it thinks it’s still there.
‘Oh, that was just in two-wheel-drive mode,’ Cliff corrected me after I’d commented on his old nail’s four-wheel-drive prowess.
But not living in a quarry, or Burundi, my envy was fleeting. The original Disco was lauded for its all-round appeal when it was new, but it’s hard to empathise with those reviewers now. The 2.5-litre diesel made just 111bhp and according to contemporary road test figures wheezed to 60mph in 19.2sec. Top speed? Eighty-seven.
And if you’re thinking ‘at least it was economical’, wrong! It managed 24mpg in normal use and 32mpg on a gentle motorway run. Mind you, that was better than the 16mpg you’d get out of the V8 (which still took nearly 12 seconds to reach 60mph).
Anyway, contrast that with our petrol Q5, which touches 150mph flat out, gets to 60mph in around six seconds, and beats its economy too. The Audi’s consumption figures didn’t seem quite so hot in the early days of our loan, but now fully loosened up the Q5 regularly returns over 30mpg.
And while the Q5 doesn’t have the diff locks and ground clearance of a proper old-school off-roader, modern soft SUVs are a whole lot more capable than you might think with the air suspension wound right up and a set of suitable boots. Not that it matters – I’ve done 3000 miles this month and three of them were off road. For most of us, if not for Cliff, going soft was the best move the SUV ever made.
By Chris Chilton
Logbook: Audi Q5 2.0 TFSI S line
Engine 1984cc 16v turbo 4cyl, 249bhp @ 5000-6000rpm, 237lb ft @ 1600-4500rpm
Gearbox 7-speed dual-clutch, four-wheel drive
Stats 6.3sec 0-62mph, 147mph, 159g/km
Price £40,170
As tested £51,085
Miles this month 2979
Total 9180
Our mpg 31.1mpg
Official mpg 40.4mpg
Fuel this month £509.93
Extra costs £0
Month three living with an Audi Q5 TFSI: obligatory options
Our Q5 is loaded with £10k of options including air suspension, LED headlights, B&O hi-fi and Virtual Cockpit instruments. Sometimes I'd trade them all for £225 of electrically folding mirrors.
It must be 15 years since anyone went 'ooh' over folding mirrors, but I park on a narrow street and I'm always forgetting to unfold the passenger mirror before I get in. Also, seeing them fold assures you the car's locked.
According to Audi's configurator, they should be on my car. Eh?
By Chris Chilton
Logbook: Audi Q5 2.0 TFSI S line
Engine 1984cc 16v turbo 4cyl, 249bhp @ 5000-6000rpm, 237lb ft @ 1600-4500rpm
Gearbox 7-speed dual-clutch, four-wheel drive
Stats 6.3sec 0-62mph, 147mph, 159g/km
Price £40,170
As tested £51,085
Miles this month 1612
Total 6201
Our mpg 27.7mpg
Official mpg 40.4mpg
Fuel this month £315.10
Extra costs £0
Month two living with an Audi Q5 TFSI: the miles and the fuel bill are racking up
Month two for the Q5 and another 2000 miles added to the odometer, mostly ferrying me to jobs of the very best kind – the ones that involve a supercar waiting for you at the other end.
One of those was the McLaren 720S, a plane ride away in Rome, and the other the P1 we borrowed from the McLaren Technology Centre, and which you’ll have read about in our June 2017 issue.
I’ve driven the P1 a couple of times before, but seeing it in the company of the Q5 was a perfect reminder of just how tall the Q5 is relative to other cars, if not to other SUVs. And getting there was a perfect reminder of why people are telling me I’m mad to have picked a petrol Q5 over the obvious diesel choice. Dicing on Devon’s narrow lanes on the school run, I’m getting low-20s mpg, and quick motorway blasts seem to peg it at or below 30.
I’m enjoying the refinement of the petrol engine, though, and driving an SUV that has some enthusiasm for revs. I just wonder why, if the extra performance it offers over the 2.0 diesel is its main selling point, Audi couldn’t have given it a bit of Golf R-style growl. I’ll just have to train my dog to synch with the accelerator.
By Chris Chilton
Logbook: Audi Q5 2.0 TFSI S line
Engine 1984cc 16v turbo 4cyl, 249bhp @ 5000-6000rpm, 237lb ft @ 1600-4500rpm
Gearbox 7-speed dual-clutch, four-wheel drive
Stats 6.3sec 0-62mph, 147mph, 159g/km
Price £40,170
As tested £51,085
Miles this month 2129
Total 4589
Our mpg 27.7mpg
Official mpg 40.4mpg
Fuel this month £419.65
Extra costs £0
Month 1 with an Audi Q5 TFSI S line: a lot to live up to
‘The needs of a magazine force us to swap these cars every six months: I’d have happily driven this one for 10 years’ – that was Ben Oliver talking about our recently departed Q7, and one of the most profound endorsements of a car I can remember reading in this magazine. The new Q5 has plenty to live up to.
And contrary to appearances, this is a new car, and not merely a facelift of the original. The new chunky grille-frame and scowling bonnet-line help make that clear at the front, and if you see old and new together the 2017 car’s pronounced swage line does the same from the side.
But from the back… I parked ours next to an old Q5 at a petrol station and had to look hard to spot the differences. It’s a handsome car, though: more muscular than the Q3, and more athletic than the Q7. Think A5 Sportback reimagined for the Baja 1000.
Unlike other Audis, the Q5 range is surprisingly light on choice. Leaving aside the SQ5 for a moment, you get to pick from basic SE, starting at £37,240, better equipped and better looking Sport for £1100 more, and S-line trim for a further £2k, plus a stack of options. But when it comes to engines, there are only two: a 187bhp, 2.0-litre TDI and a 249bhp petrol, both with a seven-speed S-tronic twin-clutch ’box and awd.
Given a recent house relocation means I now do more miles than a public school hussy, the 2.0 TDI was the only sensible choice. But I went for the petrol Q5 for a couple of reasons. First, we know that TDI engine inside out but the petrol engine, falling halfway between a Golf GTI and a Golf R on power, is less of a known quantity, especially in an SUV.
And second, because whatever it does to the gallon can’t possibly come as a shock after six months in a 550bhp AMG V8, especially when the combined fuel consumption figure is a very reasonable 40mpg. Okay, so we all know better than to believe the nonsense that is official fuel consumption figures, but since the tide seems to be turning against diesel, we’re curious to see whether petrol power really is a viable alternative.
It certainly looks like the best choice if you want to get anywhere in a hurry. The diesel might eke a further 15 miles from every gallon, but it needs 7.9sec to reach 62mph, compared to just 6.3sec for the petrol. And though a diesel’s superior torque output usually makes for more relaxing progress in a big car (the Q5 weighs 1875kg), its 295lb ft isn’t that much better than the 273lb ft of the petrol.
The TDI does fare slightly better in the company car tax battle thanks to its lower CO2 output, but you’re only talking a few hundred quid a year, which keeps the petrol in the running, if not necessarily at the front.
Audi Q5 cars for sale
Our car came in S-line spec, which brings an upgrade from 18- to 19-inch wheels, sporty leather and alcantara trim, and more aggressive bumpers for your £40k. But the price of our car was significantly inflated thanks to the addition of kit like 20-inch wheels (£900), matrix LED lights (£650), panoramic roof (£1400) and adaptive air suspension (£2000). It also has a couple of option packs: the Comfort and Sound pack, which delivers keyless entry, electric seats and a B&O hi-fi for £1250, and the £1100 Technology pack (better nav, a 36-month Audi Connect subscription to access online content, and a wireless phone charger that is absolutely useless to me because my iPhone doesn’t support it).
That lot brought the total to £51,085, which is pennies away from the price of a completely option-free – but still well equipped and much faster – SQ5. And around £20k more than the cost of my family’s own car, a current-shape A4 Avant. We might well return to both of those comparisons later in the loan.
For now, though, we’ll finish with our early impressions of the Q5. It looks great, feels usefully roomy, and we’re enjoying the refinement of the petrol engine over the typical chuntering diesel clatter you expect when you punch the starter button in a modern SUV. In fact the Q5’s overall refinement has really shocked me. It’s so quiet and rides so well I’m struggling to think of another non-limo type car that’s such good company on the motorway. Come back next month to find out if that honeymoon feeling has lasted.
By Chris Chilton
Logbook: Audi Q5 2.0 TFSI S line
Engine 1984cc 16v turbo 4cyl, 249bhp @ 5000-6000rpm, 237lb ft @ 1600-4500rpm
Gearbox 7-speed dual-clutch, four-wheel drive
Stats 6.3sec 0-62mph, 147mph, 159g/km
Price £40,170
As tested £51,085
Miles this month 901
Total 2460
Our mpg 27.4mpg
Official mpg 40.4mpg
Fuel this month £166.26
Extra costs £0