This Is More Like It
by David Finlay (11 Nov 09)

The last time I drove an Audi Q5 was nine months ago, and I don't think I've ever been quite so tetchy about a car in my life. The problem was not that it was a bad car, but that it was a good car which had been comprehensively ruined by the fitment of wheels and tyres which were simply not right for it. The standard items had been ditched in favour of optional 255/45s on 20" alloys, and the result was a disaster. It would be too much effort to get quite so worked up about the issue again, so instead I'll let you read all the spluttering and what-the-helling in our Q5 3.0 TDI SE road test.

My opinion that a fine machine had been vandalised was so strong that I very much wanted to try out another Q5 so that I could enjoy it for what it was. That opportunity came up only recently, when I took the wheel of the 2.0 TFSI quattro S line S tronic, and great was the joy and unbridled the enthusiasm when it turned out to be every bit as good as I'd hoped.

I'll explain that later, but first it would be a bright scheme to make sense of the car's very cumbersome name. 2.0 TFSI refers to the 208bhp two-litre petrol engine, which is very good but would perhaps not be my first choice. The most sensible option is the 2.0 turbo diesel in 141bhp form, though the 168bhp version of the same unit would be very tempting. There's another, less powerful 2.0 TFSI producing 178bhp, and that could be worth a look. Audi's three-litre turbo diesel is also available and is the one I would most desire. There's also a 266bhp 3.2-litre petrol, but that's just silly.

The word quattro indicates four-wheel drive, but there's not much point in including it in the title because all Q5s have that. S line, as Audi aficionados will need no reminding, is the top trim level, above the un-named standard specification and the mid-range SE. Most of the differences between the SE and the S line are cosmetic, but you also get a leather multifunction steering wheel, xenon headlights, 235/55 tyres on 19" wheels and sportier (but not lowered) suspension.

If you want a really well-equipped Q5, though, you have to visit the options list. The test car was fitted with a Technology Pack (consisting of satellite navigation, an electric tailgate and the most advanced form of MMI control system), Drive Select (which gives a choice of three suspension modes), hill-hold assist, adaptive cruise control, heated and folding door mirrors, electrically-operated heated front seats, and interior light package, a "music interface", a ski/snowboard bag, "rear bench seat plus" (which allows each part of the seat to be moved forwards or backwards through 100mm), a storage pack, triple-zone climate control air-conditioning, adaptive headlights, mobile phone preparation and a Bang & Olfusen audio system. All very nice, but you won't find any of it in the standard specification of a Q5, and with the further addition of metallic paint it raised the price of the test car by a dizzying £8680.

S tronic . . . oh, you must know about this by now. No? Well, it's the Volkswagen Group's twin-clutch semi-automatic seven-speed gearbox under another name, and it's rather wonderful. It costs £1420 and it has a slightly harmful effect on fuel economy and CO2 emissions, but it also makes the Q5 accelerate fractionally more quickly because the gearchanges are so rapid. More importantly, it adds a welcome note of relaxation to the driving process.

Ah yes, the driving process. The fact that the S line has stiffer suspension than that of the 3.0 TDI SE that caused me such anguish, and wheels only an inch smaller in diameter, might suggest that all the ride quality issues I mentioned before would still apply. But they don't. The suspension modifications are subtle and effective, and the difference in wheel size - or, more importantly, in tyre sidewall height - has a much greater effect than the figures might indicate. Unlike the last one I drove, this Q5 is very comfortable on most road surfaces and feels from behind the wheel like a much smaller car than it actually is, a trick which the enormous Q7 also manages to perform. I imagine a Q5 on 18" wheels would ride even better, but it's more than acceptable on 19s. Choose 20s from the options list and I may have to shoot you.

And let's not forget practicality. The Q5 has a great deal of space for both front and rear passengers, and its luggage volume varies between 540 litres to the window line with the rear seats in place and 1560 litres loaded to the roof with the seats down. Several large estate cars have comparable figures, but they don't have raised floors to accomodate the rear axle of a four-wheel drive system, and in any case you must have, if I may say so, rather a peculiar lifestyle if you need to carry more than 1560 litres' worth of luggage on a regular basis.

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Price: £32,890
Capacity: 1984cc
Power: 208bhp
0-62mph: 7.2 seconds
Maximum speed: 137mph
Economy: 38.6mpg extra urban, 33.2mpg combined
CO2 emissions: 197g/km
Towing capacity: 2000kg braked
Insurance: Group 15
Audi figures.

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