Audi Q5
THE PERFECT ONE
Engine - 2.0 L TFSI
Max power -
211 hp/4300-6000 rpm
Max torque - 350 Nm/1500-4200 rpm
Max speed (km/h) - 222
Acceleration 0-100 km/h - 7.2
Fuel consumption:
city - 10.4
highway - 7.3
combined - 8.5
7-speed S-tronic transmission
Length - 4629 mm
Width - 1880 mm
Height - 1653 mm
Ground clearance - 200 mm
Tires 235/65R17
Price $ 57,477 (459,811 UAH), minimum - $ 51,503 (412,020 UAH)
Curb weight - 1740 kg
Equipment:
Permanent all-wheel drive quattro, ESP with off-road functions (ABS, EBV, ASR, EDS, MSR, offroad mode, hill descent assist), servotronic, hill holder, audi parking system plus, Concert audio system (10 speakers + subwoofer), full electric package, leather interior, climate control, leather steering wheel, roof rails
Service interval:
15000 km
Warranty 2 years without mileage limit
Service 1 - 15000 km - $ 328 (2,619 UAH)
Service 2 - 30000 km - $ 388 (3,097 UAH)
Service 3 - 45000 km - $ 328 (2,619 UAH)
Service 4 - 60000 km - $ 685 (5,473 UAH)
Service 5 - 75000 km - $ 328 (2,619 UAH)
Service 6 - 90000 km - $ 571 (4,563 UAH)
Competitors:
Land Rover Freelander 2
BMW X3
Volvo XC60
Marat Makhmutov, «Kazan School of Higher Driving Skills»
The long New Year holidays finally came to an end, and the first car in our resumed test drives in 2009 was the younger brother of the big crossover AUDI Q7, named Q5. In the designations of crossovers from German manufacturers, I mean BMW and AUDI, some pattern can be traced. See for yourself - the Bavarians have X5 and X3, the Ingolstadt people have Q7 and Q5 respectively, and a higher number in the designation indicates a larger car, and the difference of two units between neighbors in the model range is probably not accidental either. Okay, after all, that is the business of German automotive marketers, our task is to evaluate the new AUDI in the class of compact SUVs. For our «judgment» a black car with a 2-liter TFSI turbo engine with 211 hp and a 7-speed S-tronic gearbox with dual clutch, combining the advantages of automatic and manual transmissions, was presented in not the richest but, in my opinion, optimal configuration, which included leather interior, auto-dimming mirror, and front and rear parking sensors. The first glance at the Q5 from afar, especially in profile and from the rear, initially made me doubt the origin of the newcomer, since from this angle it looks exactly like an «Infinity FX».
However, the front view leaves no doubt that this is an AUDI – it looks stylish and solid. At the front there are xenon headlights with a strip of LEDs, the rear lights also have modern LED filling. Inside, we are greeted by the richness of high-quality «four-ring» assembly and used finishing materials: plastics and leather are exactly the quality you expect from a premium brand. A small detail: in the places where the seat belt locks come into contact with the plastic on the tunnel between the front passengers, felt rectangles are glued to the lock bodies. Artificial matte wood inserts on the dashboard and in the doors do not at all stand out from the general atmosphere of solidity and do not give any impression of cheapness. It is from such attention to detail that the premium segment is formed. The front seats with electric adjustments of a comfortable shape allow a person of any height to sit comfortably behind the wheel. The Q5 (ku-fifth) is built on the platform of the new A4 and has the same wheelbase length. Nevertheless, due to the vertical seating position, there is enough space in the rear seat to accommodate three adult men, unlike its donor, whose passenger capacity in the back row leaves much to be desired. The trunk has a good volume of 540 liters with a crew of five, plus it has the ability to optimally place luggage by adjusting the reconfigurable «organizer» in the trunk floor. And the luggage net, neatly packed in a factory case, only emphasizes the manufacturer's care for both the owner and the car as a whole. Well, for those who do not have enough space for luggage inside the car, there are roof rails with crossbars already installed on them.
Now I will move directly to assessing the dynamic and driving qualities of the test subject. My first test drive took place on the ice rink of our autodrome. A brisk acceleration on ice, despite the studded Nokian Hakkapeliitta 5, of course, does not work out, despite the quattro all-wheel drive, but the potential of the engine and the rate of fire of the gearbox impress even in this mode, which was fully confirmed later on roads with a good coefficient of adhesion. The manufacturer's stated acceleration of 7.5 seconds to a hundred is clearly not a marketing ploy in this case. On ice, the enabled ESP does not allow «hooliganism», instantly strangling the engine and braking the slipping wheels. Boring, but safe, especially since when the system is turned off, the car becomes very demanding on the «piloting» technique, instantly turning around when there is an error in dosing traction or in maneuvering. I note that this happens at fairly high speeds (over 40 km/h, on ice this is a serious figure). Next, our route ran on public roads with all the delights of winter driving both on snowy asphalt and on icy sections. I already mentioned the potential of the engine and gearbox, I will only add that the S-tronic not only quickly accelerates a rather heavy car, but also allows very effective engine braking when the gas is released. We were all especially delighted by the energy intensity of the suspension, which on any road surface did not allow us to think about the quality of our roads, timely damping unwanted impacts from bumps in terms of comfort.
And this with the standard non-adjustable suspension? Excellent! In this case, the need to install an optional adjustable (and expensive!) air suspension, which is rumored to appear soon, is highly questionable. Of course, the outstanding smoothness of the ride in the version with the base suspension is achieved, among other things, due to aluminum arms, whose estimated service life on our roads will most likely be lower than that laid down by the designers, but the desire to drive comfortably still prevails over the distant prospect of repairing the chassis. The sound insulation of the ku-fifth is also excellent: in the normal mode of city driving, not a single sound from outside penetrates into the cabin, which, together with the complete absence of any squeaks of upholstery parts and the dashboard, makes the owner take his hat off to the designers and manufacturers for working out this issue in this case as well. The noise from studded tires becomes audible only on the suburban highway at speeds over 130 km/h, and mainly when riding as a rear passenger. However, the property of studded tires to «hum» at high speeds is inherent in almost all, including much more expensive cars. On the highway, the Q5 behaved very reliably and predictably, not allowing any doubt about its origin: the excellent operation of the engine, transmission and the clarity of the steering allowed not to be nervous when overtaking mainline trucks. And the tenacious and informative brakes made it possible to rein in our «hot horse» exactly when it was required of it.
As part of the crossover test drive, we couldn't help but take a short ride on a snowy winter road at our traditional testing ground, because permanent all-wheel drive combined with a ground clearance of 200 mm implies a small but still off-road essence of the newcomer from AUDI. It was also interesting to test the hill start and descent assist system, activated by a separate button on the tunnel. Our test subject didn't let us down, neither literally nor figuratively, confidently passing all the trials we put it through. It confidently climbed a fairly steep snowy dirt road, just as confidently moved along the intended trajectory downhill at a single speed thanks to the activated descent assist system, and even a small snow-covered ravine was absolutely no obstacle for it. Diagonal wheel hanging is essentially alien to our car, but we couldn't scare it with that obstacle either; it got out of it with honor and dignity. We also liked the fact that despite far from refined driving conditions on winter off-road, our Q5 didn't make a single sound, neither from the body (good torsional rigidity) nor from any interior trim detail (assembly and fit quality).
The way back was full of positive emotions from the Q5, which is a fusion of a business suit and work overalls. It's not shameful to drive up to a prestigious business center in it, but on a broken village dirt road, it won't look like a city novice. And combined with a moderate price for its class, and a modest average fuel consumption of 14.9 liters per 100 km even for a gasoline engine (on-board computer readings from our trip), it's simply destined to be a bestseller in our (and not only) automotive market. And the production lineup also includes two turbodiesels with 2 and 3 liter displacements, whose consumption is much lower, and frankly, the first one combined with S-tronic is a very tempting option for a city dweller. The only remark I have about this undoubtedly very good car is the lack of pockets on the backrests of the front seats, which would be convenient for storing various printed materials.
Vadim Sadykov, "Autoclub-Kazan"
I'll let you in on a little secret: every car, even a luxury one, has its flaws. And we usually find them easily during test drives. But with the Q5, something went wrong. We spent a long time trying to figure out what could pass as a "flaw". As a result, Marat criticized the lack of pockets on the backrests of the rear seats, and I found the ashtray for rear passengers flimsy. Not much. The easiest thing is to criticize the suspension on any car: it's either too soft or too stiff. Such criticism is especially aided by the absolute subjectivity of the softness/stiffness concept. But on the Q5, it's tuned just perfectly: it handles bumps excellently, there are no body rolls in corners, and handling is good. Another easy target for criticism is the interior trim. On another luxury crossover – the Volvo XC60 – squeaks in the cabin and insufficient body rigidity immediately appeared. Diagonal wheel hanging on the Q5 revealed no body issues, and the trim quality is excellent.
Let's try to approach the flaws from another angle. For example, how does the engine+gearbox tandem work? The engine is a 2.0 turbo with 211 hp at 4200-6000 rpm. Note the straight line of maximum power. As for torque, it's all standard for Audi turbo engines – maximum from 1500 to 4500 rpm. The engine has a huge reserve of thrust from the very bottom. With the gearbox, it's even more interesting; here there's a new feature: S-tronic. To be precise, a gearbox with that name was already used by Audi, for example, in the TT. But there it's a DSG "robot" (Audi just uses its own name) with two clutches for a transversely mounted engine and front-wheel drive. The DSG principle is known: if you're driving in 3rd gear and accelerating, 4th gear is already ready, and if the car is slowing down, then 2nd gear. The new S-tronic in the Q5 works the same way, but there are design differences. The engine is longitudinally mounted, there are two "wet" clutches (they are lubricated with ATF oil), each clutch has its own shaft, and, most importantly, there's a center differential. If the 7-speed DSG with a dry clutch can transmit torque up to 250 Nm, then on the 7-speed S-tronic this figure grows to 550 Nm. In normal conditions, the center differential distributes torque as follows: 40% to the front axle and 60% to the rear. But depending on driving conditions, this distribution can vary from 15/85 to 65/35. What is the result of the engine+gearbox tandem? Acceleration to 100 km/h in 7.2 seconds. Torque loss in the gearbox is only 5%. For comparison, in an automatic transmission it's from 6.5 to 11.5%, in a CVT – approximately 7.5%. Our test drive (city, highway, light off-road) showed fuel consumption of only 12.6 l/100 km! An excellent result for such a dynamic car.
And still – does the Q5 have any more flaws?
Alfred Mardanov, "Autoclub-Kazan"
Winter, winter, winter!!! Finally, the New Year holidays are over and, thank God, work has begun. Here's the first test drive of this year, whose hero is the "hottest" crossover on our market - Audi Q5. I flew to meet this car as if on wings, I was so eager to "use" it. I first saw it at an exhibition in Moscow and since then I've constantly kept my finger on the pulse, waiting for it to appear here in Kazan. And so, the car just got its license plates, and the next morning I'm already at the dealership, brushing snow off it with my bare hands, preparing it for photo shooting. It so happened that the mechanic was absent, and there was a delay with both the brush and the gasoline, but this didn't spoil my mood or impression of the car at all. I very calmly and patiently waited for all the problems to be resolved, and in the meantime studied the car from the inside. The solid, ergonomic interior design in the spirit of AUDI captivates with its nobility. Even plastic wood inserts look laconic, not tacky, as is often the case in modern cars. Healthy conservatism in organizing the driver's workspace is expressed in the fact that there's nothing new here; everything is very familiar from other AUDI models. I have a somewhat philosophical attitude towards the AUDI brand. It's a high-class brand, but, it seems to me, it doesn't have the charisma that BMW and Mercedes have, although they ask for comparable money. Credit must be given to the designers; the car turned out interesting. Unlike its older brother Q7, this one looks more laconic and proportional. It looks quite modern and leaves no doubt about its belonging to the thoroughbred automotive elite. The family radiator grille, headlights with built-in dot inserts, like on the A6, only in a better execution, give it a somewhat predatory look. The car no longer has protruding elements; it's very smooth and, I'll repeat once again, proportional. Well, that's it, we can go; the gasoline is filled, the documents are issued, the first point of the route is the hippodrome. It so happened that the other test drive participants had already gathered there and were waiting for me and, of course, the car itself! I just drove out of the gate, lightly pressed the gas pedal and realized that I need to do it carefully.
The car turned out to be very lively, I can really feel how assertively the gears shift, and it's very unusual. It's all about the dual clutch disc, shifts really happen faster than on a manual, one gear immediately transitions to the next, and not abruptly, but with an overlap. A crazy car, just fantastic. From the first seconds of the "flight" I just entered another world - the world of AUDI. There is no extraneous noise, no place for inconvenience, discomfort, or compromises. The road to the hippodrome is short, and I simply didn't have enough time to revel in that magical ability of the car to "rev-match" gears, thanks to its clever transmission. Oh, I've already arrived!!! I drive onto the lot, try to enter the turn boldly, and then, like on a gramophone when the spring runs out, a fading "oo-oo-oo-oo-oooooo". The car slowed down, thought, and slowly, as if reluctantly, entered the turn - ESP kicked in. Hmm... yeah, there was no chance left to get an adrenaline rush, not even a tiny bit. Okay, let's see what happens if we turn it off, luckily the ESP off button is at hand. Oops, let's go! Even at low speed, I lost the car in the first turn, thought it was a coincidence, but as the future showed, it wasn't. On the ice, I just couldn't tame the car; it goes into understeer and stubbornly doesn't want to come back. It slid almost helplessly to the snow berm at the edge of the lot. Only at lower speeds could I at least somehow control the process and bring it back to the right trajectory. And less experienced drivers, they just put it sideways or almost spun it around. Conclusion: it's better not to turn off ESP on the road, only off-road for tackling loose, soft, and sticky surfaces. I'll repeat myself if I say how it drives in one word, and a decent one - awesome. It's well-balanced, it's comfortable on any surface without any compromises, it's controllable, it's perfectly insulated from outside noise. By trial and error, we determined that noise discomfort starts at speeds from 125 km/h. We were so engrossed and charmed by the car that we completely forgot (except me) about the manual and sport modes of S-tronic. And it's clear why - the car is so good with its gear shifts and its responses to the gas pedal that nothing else was needed from it. Even the most boring and meticulous enthusiast of digging into S-tronic and engines was delighted. Off-road, again five!!! We gave it tough tests, and it easily handled them all. It tirelessly stormed a steep climb and descended it in automatic mode. It climbed through snowdrifts and ravines, scaled hills where we test diagonal articulation. That's when Marat started his lamentations about how awesome this tech is, rightly noting that crossovers with this kind of off-road capability are the most optimal choice for a modern person, and even more so for a city dweller.
At first I laughed at him, teasing that he was lamenting like a nun about the car being simply perfect and hard to find fault with. But on the way back on the highway, when I got behind the wheel, it was Marat's turn to have fun, and I couldn't help but constantly admire the car's ability to pick up speed, its stability, and so on down the list. I proposed a bet on the average fuel consumption at the end of the test (we had reset the counter beforehand). I bet on 17 liters, but no one supported me, and it was a good thing, because I would have lost - the consumption turned out to be 14.9 liters. A very good result, even if we add a couple of liters for city traffic jams. What can I say, I've never heard such a stream of flattering reviews about a car during a test. What does that mean? Did AUDI manage to create the perfect car? Possibly!!! And the price is adequate for this class, and the car's qualities, though the upcoming price increase will shuffle the cards, but on the other hand, it will affect everyone, not just AUDI. For the first time, I'm returning to the dealership with such a heavy heart; it's a pity to give the car back, so I decided to try the "sport" mode one last time. The Q5 even squatted on the rear axle; I wonder what the 3-liter version will be like - a plane, perhaps? Even in this version, it felt like we were about to take off and hover above the road without touching it with the wheels. What can I say, AUDI has released a serious player into the market, simultaneously with the Volvo XC60, which plays in the same territory as the BMW X3; let's see what a fight unfolds and who comes out the winner.