Topic: Test Drive: 2014 Audi SQ5

[Autos_Editor]

Cross(over)fit.

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[sailor723]

I agree about the colour. We have a Deep Sea Blue Metallic 328 and while I love the colour it shows every spec of dirt or water spot.

It never fails to amaze me how a company selling a 67K vehicle is willing to risk alienating customers by nickle and dime stuff like charging $40 to connect an Ipod. 

I also agree with Karlsdarwin about the carbon trim option.  Hell, I'd pay extra not to have to have it. 

I'm going to Moncton to take my wife's BMW in for service tomorrow and plan a stop at the Audi dealership to have a look at a Q5.

[Snowman]

Wait for it, wait for it...

[quadzilla]

I also agree with Karlsdarwin about the carbon trim option.  Hell, I'd pay extra not to have to have it. 

Too bad Karlsdarwin removed his post so we have no idea what he said.

It looks like the carbon is optional so no need to add it.

Options: $5500 [$800 – Estoril Blue Paint; $500 – Carbon Atlas inlays; $3200 – Navigation w/ park assist; $1000 – B&O Sound System]

I'd also delete the badges on this thing.

I think I could option out a Macan pretty close to SQ5. Without driving either I pick the Macan.

[mixmanmash]

I think I could option out a Macan pretty close to SQ5. Without driving either I pick the Macan.

I agree.  It's too bad Audi doesn't equip the North American SQ5 with the hopped up V6 turbo diesel like they do in Europe.

[tpl]

We are going shopping for a Q5 in a week or two...I hope that there still are some available by then.

[ChaosphereIX]

don't see any point in this vehicle, personally. To me, just buy a basic baby-stroller such as a Q5 if you MUST have such a vehicle [what is wrong with a wagon?  ], and put the rest of the money towards a sports car. These German automakers need to stop trying to fit together vehicle segments that shouldn't be put together [like the ridiculous coupe-suv craze at the autoshows this year  ]. Get over it, Dad, you had kids, now deal with it...

I am sure it is great and all, and might even be fast, but no thanks. I will keep my sports car that was meant to be so, and my family hauler will be safe and slow. Who wants to go the speed of light with kids in the back anyways?

[OliverD]

don't see any point in this vehicle, personally. To me, just buy a basic baby-stroller such as a Q5 if you MUST have such a vehicle [what is wrong with a wagon?  ], and put the rest of the money towards a sports car. These German automakers need to stop trying to fit together vehicle segments that shouldn't be put together [like the ridiculous coupe-suv craze at the autoshows this year  ]. Get over it, Dad, you had kids, now deal with it...

I am sure it is great and all, and might even be fast, but no thanks. I will keep my sports car that was meant to be so, and my family hauler will be safe and slow. Who wants to go the speed of light with kids in the back anyways?

Yes, we get it, you don't like performance SUVs. No need to remind us of that fact in every thread about them. It's pretty clear there is a demand for crossovers like this.

[ChaosphereIX]

don't see any point in this vehicle, personally. To me, just buy a basic baby-stroller such as a Q5 if you MUST have such a vehicle [what is wrong with a wagon?  ], and put the rest of the money towards a sports car. These German automakers need to stop trying to fit together vehicle segments that shouldn't be put together [like the ridiculous coupe-suv craze at the autoshows this year  ]. Get over it, Dad, you had kids, now deal with it...

I am sure it is great and all, and might even be fast, but no thanks. I will keep my sports car that was meant to be so, and my family hauler will be safe and slow. Who wants to go the speed of light with kids in the back anyways?

Yes, we get it, you don't like performance SUVs. No need to remind us of that fact in every thread about them. It's pretty clear there is a demand for crossovers like this.

ok ill shut up about it then 

[Snowman]

Wait for it, wait for it...

You mean :

"This is too expensive, I'd much rather a diesel, AWD wagon with a manual for 30K" 

  Or I would rather do burnouts in a Dodge for 1/3 of the price. The gong show after a review of a German car is so predictable 

[KD]

I also agree with Karlsdarwin about the carbon trim option.  Hell, I'd pay extra not to have to have it. 

Too bad Karlsdarwin removed his post so we have no idea what he said.

It looks like the carbon is optional so no need to add it.

Options: $5500 [$800 – Estoril Blue Paint; $500 – Carbon Atlas inlays; $3200 – Navigation w/ park assist; $1000 – B&O Sound System]

I'd also delete the badges on this thing.

I think I could option out a Macan pretty close to SQ5. Without driving either I pick the Macan.

I was having a Monday morning moment and read carbon trim as being $3200 and almost fell outta my chair...   Even $500 is too much IMO, so yeah scratch that option!

I also agreed about the blue paint comment as I had a similar blue colour on my old OBW and found it worse than black for scratches and keeping clean.  I do like the vehicle and colour though. 

[tpl]

don't see any point in this vehicle, personally. To me, just buy a basic baby-stroller such as a Q5 if you MUST have such a vehicle [what is wrong with a wagon?  ], and put the rest of the money towards a sports car. These German automakers need to stop trying to fit together vehicle segments that shouldn't be put together [like the ridiculous coupe-suv craze at the autoshows this year  ]. Get over it, Dad, you had kids, now deal with it...

I am sure it is great and all, and might even be fast, but no thanks. I will keep my sports car that was meant to be so, and my family hauler will be safe and slow. Who wants to go the speed of light with kids in the back anyways?

As it happens there is an almost identically equipped Audi wagon, the A4 Allroad and we will be looking at that as well. 

[evil_twin]

don't see any point in this vehicle, personally. To me, just buy a basic baby-stroller such as a Q5 if you MUST have such a vehicle [what is wrong with a wagon?  ], and put the rest of the money towards a sports car. These German automakers need to stop trying to fit together vehicle segments that shouldn't be put together [like the ridiculous coupe-suv craze at the autoshows this year  ]. Get over it, Dad, you had kids, now deal with it...

I am sure it is great and all, and might even be fast, but no thanks. I will keep my sports car that was meant to be so, and my family hauler will be safe and slow. Who wants to go the speed of light with kids in the back anyways?

Although I agree with some of your sentiments (namely, preferring wagons to small SUVs), the point is there aren't many comparable wagons offered anymore in North America.

And I'm not sure whether you have kids or not, but the reality for most of us with young ones is that there simply isn't time to enjoy a proper sports car.   No time for washing, caring and, especially, going for destination-less drives in the country simply for the sake of driving.   

So if you're going to be doing all your driving in one do-everything vehicle, why not choose an SQ5?   I'm sure it's a lot more fun to drive than most crossovers.

[OliverD]

don't see any point in this vehicle, personally. To me, just buy a basic baby-stroller such as a Q5 if you MUST have such a vehicle [what is wrong with a wagon?  ], and put the rest of the money towards a sports car. These German automakers need to stop trying to fit together vehicle segments that shouldn't be put together [like the ridiculous coupe-suv craze at the autoshows this year  ]. Get over it, Dad, you had kids, now deal with it...

I am sure it is great and all, and might even be fast, but no thanks. I will keep my sports car that was meant to be so, and my family hauler will be safe and slow. Who wants to go the speed of light with kids in the back anyways?

As it happens there is an almost identically equipped Audi wagon, the A4 Allroad and we will be looking at that as well.

Identically equipped minus the engine, of course. 

I wish they still offered an S4 wagon in this corner of the world.

[HeliDriver]

And don't forget older drivers. I have a 60ish year old uncle who was always a car enthusiast, but with his bad hips and knees could probably not even get into a proper sports car now.

A friend of my parents' actually just bought an SQ5. He's always owned nice cars (had a Porsche 930 when I was a kid) and says he loves the SQ5. Raised ride height so it's easy to get into, handles great on the street, room for the occasional grand kid and stuff in the back, AWD for getting to their cottage in ski country, and some extra oomph to keep it fun when you stand on the go pedal.

I'd probably choose something else for myself right now, but in twenty years? I think a sporty vehicle like this would be perfect.

[Northernridge]

"...one of the best all-round vehicles I’ve driven yet this year"

To me this is where these smallish Euro CUVs shine, as all-arounders all-year long. If you have to have only one vehicle, you want a nice one and don't want it to be a sedan, these are a good choice.

My mind still drifts to the Macan though.

The segment does remind me how good value sedans are by comparison...look at how much A4 you can buy for less than the SQ5 for example. And, I expect all rates and incentives will be better too.

[Brendan McAleer]

I agree with the sentiment of , "why not a sportscar plus base Q5," but the fact is, you'd be in this thing far more often if you had kids. I drive slow when my kid's on-board, but en route to pick them up is perhaps a different story... 

It's an all-rounder, not a performance car, and while I wish Audi made a true S4 Avant (and I bet they'd sell well enough in Canada at least, considering the following the old car had), this is a pretty good performance machine with few drawbacks. The weight's kind of a bummer, but modern Audis are all pretty heavy.

I've a Volvo R-design wagon in a few weeks, and I'm interested in seeing how that stacks up, as they're essentially the same price.

[Noto]

I think I'm alone on this one, but other than the $3,200 for navigation/park assist, I think Audi has priced this extraordinarily well.  I think the S4 is the best value sports car out there and this isn't much more expensive despite the extra heft.

I typically shy away from vehicles with less than 7" of ground clearance, so with 7.9", the SQ5 delivers on what I would need.  $54k for the base model would suit me just fine.

I wouldn't get a Macan over this.  IMO, Superchargers > Turbochargers and at least the Audi won't have a bunch of plastic covers where the multitude of Porsche buttons should be (since I won't spend $50,000 in options to have the buttons put in).

by the by, I believe Audi calls it the V6T because they consider it a "mechanical turbocharger", effectively giving the middle finger to the term "super"charger.  In reality, it's semantics: the turbo came before the super and it's a turbine that is used to force-feed the engine.

I think supercharger is a better term than mechanically-driven turbocharger though.

...and I hate Turbo-lag more than I hate parasitic losses or supercharger whine.

Twin-charged, on the other hand    Come on, Volvo!  Brrrrring it!

[KD]

I agree with the sentiment of , "why not a sportscar plus base Q5," but the fact is, you'd be in this thing far more often if you had kids. I drive slow when my kid's on-board, but en route to pick them up is perhaps a different story... 

It's an all-rounder, not a performance car, and while I wish Audi made a true S4 Avant (and I bet they'd sell well enough in Canada at least, considering the following the old car had), this is a pretty good performance machine with few drawbacks. The weight's kind of a bummer, but modern Audis are all pretty heavy.

I've a Volvo R-design wagon in a few weeks, and I'm interested in seeing how that stacks up, as they're essentially the same price.

Just what I've been waiting for...

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Not as much power as I was expecting in an "S" version.

For all these hotted up versions of CUVs, I think of a quote I heard years ago:"When commenting on a dancing dog, one doesn't comment on the quality of the dance, but on its ability to dance at all." or words to that effect.