David&Niki

I drive a Q5 2.0 MY14, I mean for 69$+tax you better go with SQ5... WHY ?
if you would take a long trip cross the country you have to worry about if some of those service stations do not offer DIESEL...here in Montreal in winter season diesel price actually higher compare to gasoline. i'm not sure in US...
plus, SQ5 is going to make pedestrians wide open their eyes... hahaha

Chuck2006

The big question...hmmm TDI vs SQ5.

How torn I was. Having that much choice of powertrains (5!!!) only reveal the weakness of an hesitant, like I was !

Good luck in your decision.

I'm sure I won't regret the choice of my SQ5, but maybe someday I'll tell myself, a TDI maybe could have been better for just cruising around and making road trips with my family.

Having a lot of fun with the SQ5 though ! Spices things, and it's exactly why I got it. It's a gift I made to myself (during hard times).

Dustin Fennell

I think it really depends on what type of driving you will be doing. If you mainly stay on pavement, I would go for the SQ5 - super FUN factor. If you go off road (camping, fishing, mountain biking, hiking, etc.), I would go for the TDI. Just my opinion.

David&Niki

hey, just my curiosity
why it's better take TDI off road ? i'm mean its quattro for everyone.

Dustin Fennell

More torque at low speeds = better control climbing at slower speeds.

Plus the TDI will come stock with better wheel/tire size for off road compared to the SQ5.

David&Niki

for the wheel that is true... if you take 21" rim drive for off-road, you better fill up your wallet... you know what i mean~

CharlieG

I don't think you can get the flat bottom wheel but if you order the sport interior, add 20" wheels and adaptive suspension (have to be at Prestige level to do that though), you come close to the S-Line. My wife & I placed an order for one (minus the 20" wheels) two weeks ago. The 2015 has some weirdly expensive options (Audi exclusive interior for example) that can easily push the car into the sixties ... not sure what Audi is shooting for with that.

Yoshimura

Get the 20" and use the 1k you will save to get 20" winter tire.

idale

I don't think you can go wrong with either. The TDI's no slouch, but of course if you like living up at 5K+ rpm then you'd be sad in the TDI. I think the TDI's an awesome value proposition overall; not necessarily #1 in all categories, but it's got really good performance (especially off the line) and awesome range.

But of course if you've got the S bug then "close" isn't necessarily close enough, and if you don't really care about range or fuel costs, and if you want access to the things the S gets that you can't get on the regular Q5, then it may be worth the extra to step up ($69/mo lease, plus whatever the difference in fuel costs, plus any difference in resale value at the end -- TDIs traditionally hold value extremely well, but I think S models do too).

In the end you need to do whatever you feel most comfortable with. If your heart's set on the S and the TDI doesn't speak to you as much, then you might just think about how you "settled" every time you get in, and that's no fun. (On the other hand, maybe you'd warm up to the TDI and not be too sad. Who knows.)


Yeah, no flat-bottom at all anymore. I'd missed that the adaptive suspension was still available (just a Prestige-only option). So I guess it's just the steering wheel and S-Line 20" wheels (and black trim compared to 2014) that are totally unavailable.

And the option layout is indeed strange, and I have no idea where that "Audi exclusive line interior" really fits in. Maybe they're trying to get more people getting Prestiges and the Comfort package wasn't doing it for people? So they killed S-Line, stuck some bits (and beyond) into Prestige, and hope that'll do it? Feels like it was kind of random, but presumably there's some sort of thought process behind it....

sdiver68

If this is your fun car, the SQ5 is going to be funner than a TDI. I went with TDI for the following reasons:

- Not my "fun" vehicle
- Towing my "fun" motorcycles to the track is a priority. Sometimes that means 1000 miles each way such as going to Daytona. Diesels excel at low rpm, high mpg, effortless towing
- I know I'm in the large minority here...but I actually prefer the looks of the non-S
- mpg is more important to me than 1 sec 0-60
- over a 5 yr life including fuel costs, the TDI will be approx $10k cheaper
- the US does not even get the real SQ5. Ours has compromised suspension and a gas engine. Switching out the suspension on either is the same cost.

In my long enthusiasts experience with everything cars and cycles...different reasons for different people. Those are mine and mine alone...everyone who has the S loves it.