The thing that gets me is you can find a backup camera in a $15,000 base model Honda Civic, but in a $40,000 luxury SUV, you need to "step up" to get a backup camera. Nice car though.
I'm in the market for a crossover and I'm looking for one with excellent tech in it. I came across this review and I just had to say that you did really well. I've been watching reviews a lot so I've seen a wide range of them but this one is probably the most smoothest I've seen.
My wife got the Q7 TDI S line in July, I was going to get the S4. Salesman told me the Q5 was getting the TDI engine and I was like "I'm in". Ended up with the Prestige TDI model and absolutely love it. Didn't get the S line version, couldn't spend another $3500. The wife's care handles better because of the S line but mine rides a lot smoother. Excellent review, I watched it to see if I had forgotten what it all comes with. One thing I do like that he didn't mention is the built in Hard Drive that I use for music. You can just push the button and say "track" and then say "Time", and it will start playing Time from Pink Floyd. Awesome!
Great Review! By far the best one that I have seen. I had a question however, is the streaming audio standard across all models? Including those without nav?
Hi, thanks for the question. I'm 5'8" (and a half, on a good day). I took a look at a Q5 on our showroom floor for you. First, I adjusted the driver's seat for my leg length, then I measured the back seat areas. The rear bench slides back and forth, so from the end of the thigh bolster (that touches the inside of your knee) to the driver's seatback it measures anywhere between 6" and 9.5". The seat bottom (touching the backs of your thighs and back pockets) measures 19" deep. The headroom from the seat bottom to the roof headliner measures 36.5". I hope that's clear - let us know if it helps figure it out!
Rear seat legroom is adequate, if not generous. A 6' person would fit but that's about the limit. The rear sits are quite stiff and not very comfortable (leather ones). Front seats are also stiff but with more foam. What I don't like in this car is the overall 'stiffness' feeling, both from the seats and from the suspension, which is apparent even on good quality roads. Also, the steering feeling is disconnected, doesn't allow for much response. On the plus side, the car is spacious inside, not too hard to park or to drive in traffic for a SUV, gets good mileage even in city driving with the 2.0 turbo gasoline turbo engine.
The Audi Q5 was my favorite luxury compact SUV on the market until Porsche developed its Macan. For approximately the same price as a V6 3.0 272hp supercharged Q5, you can get a V6 3.0 340hp twin-turbo Macan S.
A really great and informative video, really good job! Will there be a test drive video of this car or the 2015 version? And, as a Dane myself, I have to ask: what do you think of the B&O sound system? Would you consider doing a video about the B&O in Audis? From Henry in Denmark. PS: Have anyone said you look like Timothy Olyphant from Scream 2 and Damages?
Very nice thorough review. I've been doing a lot of research on this car and I learned some things, like the two-part key, the convenient shape of the rear storage area, and the color-coded feature of the MMI. Thanks!
Superb job in explaining the car and its features. I've had numerous Audi models, currently own an Allroad, and am awaiting a Q5 TDI. You cover every concern a buyer would have, explain them thoroughly, and your closing comment about a point bump on the residual with Audi-Care is indispensable information. Really well done, thank you.
Howard, you're quite welcome - that's why we're doing these; the employees at our dealership hear from a lot of clients that the information out there is not accurate or helpful, so we try really hard. Ooh! Q5 TDI - that's a GREAT choice, there's one in my family actually - my sister. It's such a complete package. Enjoy!
My wife just got this car today and I am not so sure about the tech in this thing. She decided not to buy the package with the Nav because its usually an overpriced rip off on most cars but it seems like the standard radio is old tech. Not only do they only provide a 30 pin connector for the phone two years after the lightening connector came out but they stick it in the glove box which is difficult to reach from the drivers seat forcing you to use the systems own screen to navigate the phone options instead of using the far superior iphone screen menus. She has an iphone 5 which means we now have to buy an adapter just to get music through the system. And what do you do if you have an android? They dont even provide a standard ear phone jack. To make matters worse the speech recognition doesnt work at all. Even though the phone is paired and the contacts show up on the cars screen when she uses the dial command it says there is no such contact no matter which contact she asks it to call. The only way she can make a call is to use the dial wheel to scroll through hundreds of numbers just to get to the one she needs. I don't see how anyone can be impressed with the tech in this car. Its poorly thought out, out dated, and badly implemented. What am I missing here?
Mike, thanks for sharing the feedback. Have you tried the Speech Recognition training? It can be found in the general MMI setup menu. It really makes a huge difference to get the car to understand the user.Yes, the 30-pin is a bit behind the times I admin, but now the defacto standard is to stream audio over Bluetooth. Have you activated the Bluetooth audio player? Check the Telephone > Setup menu for an option that says "enable Bluetooth audio". You will then see Bluetooth show up in the Media menu as an input source.As for the Nav system I believe that the "rip off" prejudice is fading with time. There was a time when I would once completely agree with you - on my 2011 Audi A3 TDI I would be the first to tell you that the Nav was just a glorified Garmin and that my iPhone could do an equivalent job. However, I see that as time goes on (say, three years from now), I think there will be a big disparity between the non-nav unit and the nav-unit. With all of the internet-based connectivity going into the cars, how could Nav not evolve? Yes, there will always be a cheap non-nav option, but I think going that route might shortcut some other functionalities.
Padam, yes the Q5 can have the same base platform 3.0 TFSI or 3.0 TDI engine that the Q7 has, however, the tuning is different from the Q5's 3.0 to the Q7's 3.0 engines. You can opt for a 2.0 TFSI engine on the Q5 on the Premium and Premium Plus trim levels.
