Q5 improves ability, adds stonk
fantastic 326kw/500nm 3.0-litre turbo-petrol V6 hooked up to an eight-speed automatic transmission.
On top of the standard specification of the Q5, the SQ5 gets a different design of 20-inch alloy wheel, ‘‘matrix-beam’’ headlights, air suspension, folding exterior mirrors with aluminiumlook caps, nappa leather upholstery, a leather sports steering wheel, an LED interior ambient lighting package and a head-up display.
On the road the entry diesel model is probably – and rather unusually – the weakest of the trio of Q5s currently available locally, with noticeable lag being its major weakness. This, allied to the auto transmission’s occasionally slow response and the sluggish stop/ start system off the line leaves a few irritating holes in its performance.
The petrol, however, has no such issues, with a flexible and eager response from the 2.0-litre turbo pretty much everywhere in its broad rev range. It also manages to make a nicely satisfying growl with it.
The undisputed performance star of the range is, of course, the fantastically capable SQ5. The 3.0-litre petrol-turbo V6 is instantly responsive and impressively muscular in its delivery, with a subdued but wonderfully rich and sonorous bellow, unlike the oddly flat noise from the same engine in the S4 and S5.
Where the SQ5 has the traditional quattro AWD system, the four-cylinder cars (both petrol and diesel) are equipped with Audi’s new quattro-with-ultra system.
While ‘‘Ultra’’ sounds like more, it is in fact less – but it’s still rather clever. The system works broadly like an on-demand Haldex-style AWD system, with the front wheels doing the predominant heavy lifting as far as getting the power down goes (although the Q5 will always start off in 4WD) and the rear wheels coming in when needed.
‘‘When needed’’ in this case is largely predictive, as the system monitors 150 data feeds 150 times per second, including the windscreen wipers (if they are on, it will drop into AWD) and can react in 0.2 seconds.
Where it differs from a Haldex system is the fact that when the rear wheels aren’t being used, a pair of clutch packs disconnect the drive shaft and rear wheels entirely so that nothing in the drivetrain south of the front wheels is still turning, saving up to 60 per cent of the extra fuel usage attributed to an AWD system.
On the road this translates into a seamless transfer of power between the wheels for the vast majority of the time, although on gravel you could feel a fractional delay before it channelled power to the rear to make up for the front pushing wide.
Off the road the system proved itself to be extremely capable as well, and combined with the extra 55mm of ride height from the optional air suspension (all of the cars on the media launch had it, and it’s standard on the SQ5) provided the Q5 with some actual, usable off-road ability.
On the standard suspension the Q5’s Offroad drive mode setting is replaced by an Allroad setting that does the same thing, but doesn’t raise the car. While the air suspension did give the Q5 a wide range of ride height flexibility including, along with the raised off-road height, a lower sport setting and a 45mm-lower load setting – giving the Q5 a 100mm range – it felt too firm for Kiwi roads. If the flexibility of ride height and off-road ability is important, it’s still acceptable. If not, the standard steel suspension may be a better bet.
The new Q5 is a mighty impressive package, with the slight exception of the TDI’S offthe-mark performance. Beautifully built, extremely well equipped and handsome – yet instantly familiar – the Q5 is going to appeal to existing owners, but should also widen the pool of potential customers. Particularly with the impressive performance of the stonking SQ5.