Audi Q5 Part 3: Performance Review

As a crossover, the Audi Q5 belongs to an interesting subspecies. Part sport utility vehicle and part car, the crossover's ultimate goal is to incorporate the best attributes of both. As you might imagine, merging two distinctly different types of vehicles results in widely varied offerings from participating manufacturers.

Some lean heavily on the amenities that customers have grown accustomed to from their luxury cars. While other companies will focus on the utility inherited from their SUV-roots. Whatever the case, each competitor has its clear pros and cons.

For example, the best seller in this crowd - the Lexus RX350 - is possibly the most luxurious, but it's also the least rewarding to drive, which is a nice way of saying it's BORING. The Volvo XC60 packs the most standard safety technology - as you'd expect of a Volvo - but its interior doesn't feel quite as luxurious as others in this class.

The Q5 on the other hand, seems to have inherited the sport-gene from its Sport Utility donor, feeling very much like the athletic A4 on which it's based. And while it is clearly more performance-oriented than its competitors, that's not to suggest its lacking in luxury content, as there's plenty as standard and even more available if you start checking off options.

One option shared with its car counterpart is Audi's Drive Select system, which allows you to tailor the Q5 to fit your driving style. If you tire of the standard sportiness, and instead feel like a comfortable, slow cruise, choose the Drive Select Comfort setting with its light steering effort, complaint ride and relaxed throttle response. If, on the other hand, you're feeling extra sporty, select the Dynamic mode and enjoy firmer, more responsive handling, a throttle pedal bordering on hyperactive and the lack of power steering... Well, not exactly, but you might think the power steering system has conked out on you with the amount of effort required to turn the wheel. Now, I can appreciate that Audi tried to endow the Q5 with steering that feels more sportscar than crossover, but I think perhaps the development engineers confused steering weight for steering feel.

The good news, of course, is that Audi Drive Select gives you choices, including a customizable Individual setting which allows you to pick and choose between comfort, dynamic or auto for the settings of the steering, suspension and engine and transmission programming. So finding your ideal settings is merely a few selections away. At least there's no decision to be made on the engine front, as all Q5s sold stateside feature Audi's excellent 3.2-liter direct-injected V6.

When you do the math: 270 horsepower, moving 4300 lbs of car, you wouldn't expect the Q5 to move very quickly. But when you stand on the gas pedal, its ability to accelerate like a scolded dog will surprise you and have you recalculating your school-boy physics!

The Q5 weighs over two tons, but so do its main rivals. Unlike some of them, however, the Audi manages to feel solid rather than heavy. The Q5 manages to mix-and-match luxury, safety, performance and style in a combination that leaves it wanting for... really, nothing.

And that about sums it up perfectly. In a category that is, by definition, susceptible to compromise, the Audi Q5 seems to pull off the impossible by compromising little if any of its progenitor's best attributes.

Watch the video
Read Part 1: Design
Read Part 2: Interior & User Experience

Audi Q5

Performance
- Acceleration: Mysteriously, feels quicker than its A4 sibling using the same engine - good torque as well
- Handling: More sport-sedan than SUV - exceptional handling/ride compromise
- Braking: The one dynamic area where you feel the mass - still quite effective though

Design
- Exterior: Same sausage, different lengths philosophy growing a bit tired - conservative and somewhat stubby looking
- Interior: Typical Audi design language with no surprises (again) - nice, but somewhat dull

Utility
- Comfort: Well controlled ride still provides excellent comfort
- Space: Perfectly in keeping with the average numbers in its class - not too large, not too small

Safety
- Dynamics: As sure-footed as the Quattro badge implies with excellent agility within its category
- Technology: Everything you'd imagine is here and then some

Value
- Price: If you get carried away with the options (and it's easy to do) you'll suffer the consequences
- Mileage: Direct injection combines with the largest fuel tank in its class to provide good mileage (relatively) and impressive range

Emotional Appeal
- Heart thumpin' factor: Perhaps for hardcore Quattro loyalist...
- Fun to spank: Not available in this category

SPECIFICATIONS

Layout: Front engine / All-wheel drive
Engine: 3.2-liter, V6
Power (SAE): 270 hp
Torque: 243 lb-ft
Gearbox: 6-speed automatic
Curb Weight: 4350 lbs.
0-60 mph: 6.7 sec.
Top Speed: 129 mph
Mileage: 18 city / 23 highway
Base Price: $38,275
Competitors: BMW X3, Mercedes-Benz GLK350, Lexus RX350, Volvo XC60, Cadillac SRX