Audi Q5 2.0 TDI 190 quattro S line S tronic
Mileage 6822 List price £41,085
Target Price £38,774 Price as tested £45,050 Test economy 42.0mpg
JUGGLING WORK, STAGE rehearsals and family errands has meant I’ve spent a lot of time in our long-term Audi Q5 recently, in effect turning it into a mobile office.
The Q5’s standard Apple Carplay smartphone mirroring function helps here, giving access to phone calls, texts, Spotify music streaming and a personal assistant in the form of Siri. However, I wanted to see how well the Q5 handles those tasks without Apple’s assistance.
First task: a friend can remember the name of a restaurant we’d like to dine at but can’t remember what street it’s on. Enter Audi’s Connect system with Google integration (part of the £1395 Technology Pack); a few taps later and we’ve found what I consider to be the best spaghetti carbonara in Northamptonshire.
In fact, the other connected services on offer in our car (all in the same options pack) extend from a wi-fi hotspot, which could prove ideal for keeping children entertained on long journeys, to social media integration for Twitter. On most versions of the Q5, you get three months of Audi Connect as a trial before having to pay for the service, but in our S line model you get three years for free.
It’s easy enough to make a phone call in the Q5, and writing out numbers on the touchpad rather than using the touchscreen or buttons usually makes for short work. I say ‘usually’, because there have been some occasions when the system couldn’t understand my handwriting, leading to frustration and me resorting to the traditional rotary dial instead.
There’s also a handy smartphone app for the car called MMI Connect, which allows me to keep track of the Q5’s whereabouts – perfect for a car so highly requested for weekend trips.
From my phone, I can lock or unlock the car, check on any servicing or warning messages and even load a destination into the sat-nav. Plus, if you can’t remember where you parked, the app can direct you to the car. It’s easy to set up and has already proved to be a time-saver.