russ0054

Well....I have about 6000 mi on my 2011 Q5 Prestige Plus and am somewhat satisfied, but bitterly disappointed with a couple of things. Some observations.

Pros:

Outstanding styling, build quality and comfort. Nice and quiet.

B & O sound system is superb.

Quality interior materials and color selection/coordination.

Cool (but sometimes useless) technology. Reasonably intuitive.

2.0T engine has tons of torque - horse power not-so-much.

Love the dual pane moon (sun?) roof.

Good gas mileage (2.0T) - getting 29-30 on the freeway, 22-23 combination driving. 24 MPG average since new.

Fabulous seats.

Excellent cruise control.

Very effective brakes, but a little grabby.


Cons:

Absolute WORST transmission in any car I have ever owned. It's the clunckyest, ill shifting, poorest performing thing I have ever experienced. If that's the best Audi (ZF) can do - I'm shocked. And yes I have taken it back to the dealer and surprise.......they can't find anything wrong.

Engine has plenty of power, but it's difficult to drive smoothly. Push the gas pedal, nothing happens and then WHAM! The lag between throttle application and forward motion is very annoying. Crappy transmission just makes it worse.

Engine seemed to be less noisey (buzzy) when it was new!?

Navigation is sub-standard to say the least. Outdated map version and very little detail (street names, etc) in zoomed in view. Secondary street difficult to see in day time mode. Outstanding screen resolution, but Lexus navigation is far superior.

Out here in California (109 today) the air conditioner is just adequate. Plenty cold - just doesn't move enough air.

Why do German cars create so much brake dust on the wheels???

Overall I like (unfortunately don't love) the car. The Q5 is my first German make. I selected Audi because I believed they were trying harder then some of the more household name brands to design and build a drivers car . At this point I doubt I will be buy another Audi.

JBDinTX

Try not putting the ac on auto. Put it on high with the vent selector on face. Works better like that in my s5

Marley's Ghost

Interesting comment on the transmission. I consider mine the best I've ever had. The shifts are so smooth that I have to pay attention to know when the shift points occur. Perhaps the S-Tronic in my Q5 is different than the transmission in yours. In any case I'd go back to the dealer again and have a mechanic ride with me while you point out the substandard shifting.

We don't get that kind of heat here, but the AC system seems to move plenty of air. Perhaps the auto function is not working correctly.

JohnBoyToo

+1 on the tranny - our 8 speed is SO smooth I'm trying to find the time to vag com our's to change the D to D1-D8 so I'll know when it shifts Sorry to hear yours is not as nice - I concur with MG - go to another mechanic/dealer...

I guess I've not noticed the turbo lag as much as you or others report...
but this is the fourth turbo'ed vehicle I've had, so maybe I account for 'the nature of the beast' ?
ALL turbo cars have to wait for exhaust to build boost, so some lag is inherent in the design... but there's always the trick of doing a power brake to build boost before dumping the brakes ! and with all wheel drive, you'll just GO

TOTALLY agree with you on the Nav - useless around here...

Interesting point about turning ac off auto ! It does seem to distribute the cold air up, down, etc when on auto and doesn't come on high fan speed until I set it to temp Lo !
So we run around DFW with it set on Lo 90% of the time and it's just marginal if we have to park in the sun... tinting and remote start or on the todo list...

john1r

I'm with you on this one. Mine had gotten better for a bit but eventually came back. While I love driving at highway speeds, I HATE driving around town in my Q5. It is so annoying the way the transmission jerks in stop-and-go traffic, accelerates poorly just as you've said, etc... I shouldn't have to put the car into S mode just to get normal acceleration/shifting at lower speeds, but I find that I do this more and more.

Dealer also says all is normal even though their test drive cars (and loaners that I've had) are 100% better than mine.

Heresy64

You can do that? Haven't heard of that one. Do tell...do tell. My 07 GTI did that, but I haven't heard of it being done on Audis.

woolie

My A3 with DSG does this -- I assumed it was standard behavior. I suppose I will also be looking for the vag-com code.

neunelf

German cars create brake dust because they have a compound for the pads that permits great performance as soon as you begin, without any need to bring them up to a certain temp. Personally I put up with the dust, once a week an application of A2Z tire and wheel cleaner and my power washer and they look brand new, WITH NO SCRUBBING!

You are either going to use pads and create dust or wear your rotors faster, depends on what compound you use. I stick with the stock pads and enjoy predictable, excellent braking performance.

gat821

FWIW, our 3.2 had the lag at first. It went away after driving for a week or two predominantly in sport mode. Different transmission I know, but I suspect this is more Audi's programming rather than the actual tranny unit. On an A4 test drive I noticed this lag as well...

geronimosan

Yeah, I'd like to know this as well. Is there a VAGCOM How To page you can link to for this please?