2014Q5TDI

I am a new owner too.

My Q5 Review - I posted this on the Bimmerfest X3 forum:

As an owner of a 2011 BMW 335d, I thought the X3 or the 328d Touring would be our next vehicle. We test drove the X3, a 328d and then the Merc GLK 350 at a BMW drive and compare event. We really liked the Mercedes and that prompted us to test the Cadillac SRX and the Q5 TDI. We also tested the GLK 250 TDI.

I was not happy with the stiff ride in the X3 (Run Flats) and the seats did not seem that comfortable (I liked my 335d much better). The looks just did not light our fire either. The engine was the 2 liter and it seemed a little rough especially when the auto-start-stop did its thing.

328d - compared to the 335d I own, it was much louder and it seemed a little harsh. The power was adequate. We would have gone with the wagon version and it prices at over $50K with the options we wanted. Price creep has really gotten into the BMWs since buying my 2011. We felt we wanted a SUV rather than a sedan or wagon, so that eliminated the 328d.

The Cadillac SRX has an edgy design, but the interior seems a little cheap. Our major concern here was that the trip computer said the SRX was getting 14 miles per gallon. We really wanted better gas mileage. The outside is nice, but a little to weird for our liking. Bad gas mileage and to much plastic eliminated this one.

The Mercedes GLK 350 and 250 were both really nice, great interior, nice looking, different. But we felt the storage in the back was a little small. And some of the features were missing that were included in the X3 and the Audi Q5. I compared prices and the GLK may cost less than the competition, but it leases higher due to a higher interest rate charged by MBUSA. You get less for more money. Not a winning formula.

For fun we tested the Q5. I found a dealer with a TDI since I am a believer in clean diesel. I could not believe the test drive. I expected some diesel noise, some harshness and a firm ride, but it was unbelievable. It was totally silent, totally smooth and it felt more powerful than my 335D. The 8 speed transmission really gives the Q5 a smooth launch with fantastic power. It has a really cool pano sun roof, great B&O stereo and we really liked the sport interior (Best seats in all the cars we tested - including my 335d). It has some really cool features - wifi hot spot, google earth, nice Nav, rear back up camera, nice leather included, great interior design. And I think it looks a little like the X6 which is a beautiful SAV. The rear seats slide back and forth/and they recline, decent amount of space in the back, rear seats fold flat from the rear, and it includes a roof rack. We were sold. Since I leased, I did go with Audi care and you really only pay about $450 for it over the lease (15K miles/36 months). In addition, the residual is increased from 58% to 59% when you get Audicare - making it a better deal than the Mercedes. We took it on a 680 mile road trip over the weekend and on the highway, I was getting over 36 mpg and my overall combined City/Highway was 30 mpg. We can't be more pleased. Another note - the dealer is 1.5 hours away - they agreed to pick up and drop off the car for all service. You should also be able to get 6% off invoice plus $500 off for being a BMW owner. If you own an Audi, you get $1000 off your best price.

We are very happy with our Q5. Glacier White, TDI, B&O, sport interior - love these seats. Still averaging 30 mpg in mixed driving. Really like the voice activation controls, especially the google search feature "on line destination _____".

idale

Yep, instantaneous acceleration is a real problem, I hate that. I've had zero issues whatsoever (even in D) with speeding up on the highway (see my going 80-95 in a matter of seconds in D8). But why take the word of an owner?

Mark P

Hmm, I know he commented about in auto mode it seeking out 7/8, but his comment sounded more like in Manual8. The tranny pretty seamlessly downshifts so im not sure of what he's referring. TDI is not a monster on the highway, but I would by no means call it flat footed. Go drive one.

whoever post processed that video should be be shot. Right after he says no paddle shifters they show SQ5 with shifters, and then also show engine shot of a 3.0T (SQ5?)

visualguy

I managed to find the final drive ratio for the European SQ5 TDI - it's 3.204. So even with the extra torque from this more powerful diesel engine, Audi chose a more aggressive (higher RPM) final drive ratio than the 3.076 on the Q5 TDI. Basically, the Q5 TDI and Q5 3.0T are geared for economy, while the SQ5 TDI and SQ5 3.0T are geared for performance.

Coolieman1220

So I love the engine sound of my 335d, it has this muscular sound when you open it up. It only ever sounds like a diesel on a cold morning, cold start idling. Once it warms up, its fine. However it has no exhaust note. Nothing. That is what I miss from a diesel, there is no grumble, no howl. nothing. Sometimes you'll her a turbo whistle. It's just a bit different than a performance gas engine which exhaust note is a huge part of the experience.

Yeah i don't believe that guy. I test drove it and didn't think so. I can't wait to get mine in a few weeks.

I miss good old naturally aspirated engines =/

well yeah, that makes sense. They are "S" cars after all.

Q5 TDI

The guy that posted the video, calling the TDI "flat footed in final drive on the highway" couldn't be more wrong in my experience. Quite the opposite in fact.

One of the posters hit on something that I's like to second as well - it's not just the lack of thrashing noise that some may expect from the TDI - it's how effortless the diesel makes power. You never have the feeling it's straining to make power.

I had a nice deal on a Q5 2.0T worked out, but after I test drove the Q5 TDI, there was no comparison IMO.

skl1

Have about 2300 miles on my S-line + Glacier TDI and couldn't be happier. Plenty quick and not flat footed at all! If you want to pass someone quickly just hit the - paddle for some quick downshifts… and have never been below 30 mpg!!

Have been reading about the BlueSpark tuner box people have used on the Cayenne diesel- tempted but will stay stock for a while.

visualguy

That's good, but you're basically confirming the observation of the reviewer in the video by saying that you need to downshift manually for quick acceleration on the highway.

Mark P

How do you think this varies across the Q5 offerings? All have the same 8-speed ZF tranny. If you were to assume 65 mph highway speed when attempting to mildly accel (assuming the comments do not include downshifting, manually or automatic), all models will be under 2000 RPMs. See details below. Which ones likely accel better than which others? Considering weight to be similar enough across the group, it seeming comes down to which ones have the most torque at the RPM they're at, right? Or over the range they are accelerating. If acclelerating 65 to 75 mph, these RPMs will only increase by 200-300, so that's the ballpark of RPMs we're talking about.

Given:
M8=0.667
65 MPH

2.0T:
Final=2.848
1429 RPMs

TDI:
Final=3.076
1543 RPMs

Hybrid:
Final=3.076
1543 RPMs

3.0T:
Final=3.204
1608 RPMs

SQ5:
Final=3.760
1887 RPMs

It would seem obvious that SQ5 > 3.0T > 2.0T. And the TDI > Hybrid. But I'm not sure how those two groups overlap. Maybe:
TDI > SQ5 > 3.0T > Hyrbid > 2.0T
???

Point is, while the TDI is getting called flat footed here, it's likely one of the quickest, if not the quickest, to accel in this situation of the Q5 group.

Note:
I used ratios from audiusa.com
I assumed the same circumference tire on all vehicles - I used 255/45/20 in my calculations.
I used the calculator I created years ago on my site: http://ctny.audiworld.com/mark/s4/gears/

visualguy

The problem is that even though the TDI engine reaches a high peak torque at low RPMs, it has a very short power band, and the torque falls off rapidly as you increase the RPMs. This is why it has such low HP. Having to downshift actually means that you're in trouble because it will do only limited good - you quickly hit the point where less torque is being produced and the HP flattens or drops.

The 3.0 TFSI engine in the SQ5, on the other hand, has a wide power band and high HP. So, even though it produces less torque than the TDI at low RPMs, if the transmission downshifts aggressively, the engine will keep producing its peak torque at pretty high RPMs, thus producing a lot of HP which means that it can apply the torque at much higher speeds than the TDI engine can.