​​​​​​Picked up a new 2018 Audi Q5 as a rental for the week. Since I own a 2017 RX350 (wife's), I'll be comparing these two luxury SUVs.

Summary : Great little (and i stress little as in NX300 class) SUV with a very spunky engine (as long as you avoid turbo lag) and a sporty and taut, but compliant ride. The interior is very minimalistic (and doesnt exude luxury), and the quirky rotary **** to control the infotainment system is very distracting. Luckily, it support Android Auto / Car Play, so once you set it, you dont have to use it much.

Good: Well built, athletic handling, spunky engine, very compliant ride, deceptively larger than it really is, Android Auto is awesome!

Bad: Interior is a bit austere/spartan, seating is very firm, using rotory **** for infotainment is distracting, and ride has a little higher NVH (road noise) than expected

Ugly: Turbo lag can be a big issue off the line, exacerbated by the stop / start tech on the car.

 

Initial impressions:

- Smaller than I expected for a mid-size LUV competitor. My Rx350 dwarves it in stature.

- Very austere and Spartan interior. Seats are really firm!

- infotainment interface sucks and a little confusing, but Android Auto support makes up for it.

- Very spunky engine for 2.0t with some initial turbo lag; hold on after though

- cargo area is small but very deep so has more cargo volume than the RX350

- ride is sporty firm and has some road noise.

So far, the Q5 seems the polar opposite if the RX350, for better or worse, we'll see.

 

 

The last Q5 was pretty terrible, wonder if this is an improvement.

 

Yes, having to go down to the rotory **** for everything was a pita, especially if you're driving. Once I figured out how to setup Android Auto (which had to be wired USB connection), all was good again, but not as easy I'd like.

This rental is probably the stripper model with no NAV or virtual cockpit.

 

not surprised, it's probably closer to nx sized, while the q7 is bigger than the rx. so the sizes are just different.

 

I believe the Q5 is classified as a compact luxury cuv similar to the X3, GLC etc., while the RX is a luxury mid size.

 

It was?

Everytime I try to walk over to the Premier Collection, the attendant asks me to stick with the regular Emerald Aisle. Although I have gotten away with some of the Executive cars at Pearson....

 

This was my thought too.

 

I had the non Virtual Cockpit interface in my A4 and was not impressed either. I prefer Lexus' RTI (touchpad) even though it can be a little clumsy in precision/selection.

Agree the engine is spunky and very smooth (smoothest 2L 4cyl ever owned).

 

I've never driven the Q5, but I have a BMW with iDrive and I have to disagree on the rotary ****. I think it's great, and MUCH easier to use while driving; there are numerous functions I can perform without having to take my eyes off the road.

 

Yeah, the old Q5 was "pretty terrible"? It sold great and all the ones I drove were excellent...

 

Rented one for two weeks, interior was brittle, ride was too firm, NVH was unimpressive and styling was bland. A Toyota Highlander V6 is a more premium feeling car than that thing.

 

Having driven both multiple times I find that statement ridiculous lol

 

I suspect it's those German EngineeredTM red tinged glasses you're wearing.

I've never been impressed with Audis, I think the C7 A6 was their first new car that actually met the basic bar for what is expected of a premium car (merit). Everything before that was just not good.