KEY POINTS:
Audi's market share may have risen but luxury car sales are dropping, with the sports and SUV sectors in freefall. Thus the Q5 arrives as the segment it shares with its bigger Q7sibling reels from a 31.4 per cent reduction in sales. Can it stop the rot?
What's new? The Q5 is "Audi's answer to the Wurlitzer", according to Dane Fisher, Audi NZ's GM. For this car will read SD cards, play DVD movies, take SIM cards, CDs and MP3; it'll interface with your iPod and iPhone; it's got a USB port and has an inbuilt hard drive.
That's just some of plentiful electronic toys. The adaptive damping is linked with the Satnav and lets you not only choose comfort, auto and dynamic, but separately select the settings. For example, you can set the suspenders to soft for a bumpy road, but keep the variable steering and the shift patterns on a more dynamic setting. The S-Tronic direct shift transmission appears in its first longitudinal application, and delivers a really low first gear and a tall seventh, for frugal motorway cruising.
But otherwise Q5 steals freely from the A4 parts bin. The 2.0-litre, 125kW/350Nm common rail diesel was first seen in the A4, as was the 176kW, 500Nm 3.0 diesel. The Q5 cherry-picks the same 40:60 front:rear torque split for its quattro all-wheel-drive.
Even the suspension is modelled on the A4's, albeit with a wider track, with beefier springs and longer dampers, and the upper wishbone bearings are softer for more give in a car with a higher centre of gravity.
The company line
The market's tough, but Audi's confident it can maintain market share, tighten its belt and survive. The Q5 should assist, preventing those who find the massive Q7 too rich to swallow from focusing on BMW's X3.
What we say
Audi's Q7 is an OTT nouveau-riche battering ram. But the Q5 is a different beast; a smaller, sleeker car that's a practical everyday proposition enhanced by a barrage of bells and whistles.
The entry cars get parking aids, tow bar prep, cruise control and more; the 3.0 adds adaptive suspension, dynamic steering, an off-road pack, voice control of the phone and audio systems.
The options list is extensive; I particularly like the blind spot warning system, and the roof rack that detects a loaded box and activates the electronic nannies to offset the higher centre of gravity.
On the road
The Q5 feels more like a super-hatch than a soft-roader; one that'll seat four with ease and offers a capacious boot. Ride is comfy yet compliant; the engines pull strongly; and the cabin is well-specced, as you'd expect from the $79,500 start price.
There's plenty of clever tech - from dirt-able ESP to hill descent control -though few will use it. Look on this as a smart super-hatch and a far more eco-friendly car than its crass bigger brother, and you won't be far wrong.
Why you'll buy one
It's a smart, refined, spacious super-hatch with enough fancy gizmos for years of barbecue boasting rights.
Why you won't
Is now the right time to buy an SUV, however fuel-pump-friendly?
- HERALD ON SUNDAY
