2014 Q5 TDI personal review

[Stubek]

So I have a Lava Grey 2014 Q5 TDI prem+ for the weekend. I won't talk much about the MMI or stuff like that as everyone is familiar since it is the same as the A/S4 and A/S5.

My first impressions of the TDI are great. We picked it up in San Francisco, drove across the Golden Gate Bridge up to the top of one of the overlooks and then back down to the city, had dinner, then home to the South Bay area. overall, close to 90 miles driving. So far, averaging 28+mpg. Probably half the miles were stop and go and city traffic and even at that point, we were still in the 24+ range. The power is great. Really impressed with how smooth and quiet it is. Shifting is seamless (8 speed is pretty good at that).

Going to try to do a bunch more driving today and see how it goes.

[osideaudi]

Damn that's sedan mpg!

[Stubek]

It does not have sport suspension, so a bit soft in the turns, but other than that, smooth. Just drove it to get coffee because I needed an excuse to drive it. Cold start no problem. Its about 44* here, that is warm for some I know, but still started right up and smooth. Didn't do the high idle then normal idle the petrol engines do.

[q5 dave]

So I have a Lava Grey 2014 Q5 TDI prem+ for the weekend.

loaner car?

[Stubek]

loaner car?

Kinda. There is an NDA involved...

[IinsureU]

Love mine, but I did some suspension moods as well...

[Stubek]

Love mine, but I did some suspension moods as well...

I think if I were to buy one, which my wife is seriously considering to replace her Honda Element, I would at least have to get the sport suspension. Still driving it around and getting 27+ mpg with a bit of city driving yesterday. When we picked it up, the computer said 490 miles of fuel. We've put about 150 miles on it and it now says 500! Thing gets great mpg. Really curious to see how this compares to the hybrid Q5.

[QUBE5]

Thing gets great mpg. Really curious to see how this compares to the hybrid Q5.

The TDI is more fuel efficient than the hybrid.

[Stubek]

More driving this morning. Tossed my bike in the back to go somewhere for a ride. One thing that surprised me with the power tail gate. When closing, no amount of resistance will stop it from closing. Unlike the windows that have the pinch protection. That really surprised me.

My MPG dropped a bit, but that is because I hit a lot of red lights, but was the only car there, so when it turned green, I had it in sport mode with traction control off and kept flooring it. Even at that, still getting 27+. Now I have an hour drive back to San Francisco to return it to AoA. It's been nice.

[boomtime]

Is it the 3.0TDI? Has the 2.0TDI made it to the US?
I have been getting over 30MPG steadily on the highway with my 2L gas Q5 and now even with the APR tune.
City is low to mid 20's depending how you drive it. My lifetime (almost) MPG on trip#2 is around 23mpg which is the combined MPG over the last 40k miles or so.
See how much you can get out of a tank. My best was 575 miles and when I filled it that time it took 19. So i had a gallon left.

[SQive]

More driving this morning. Tossed my bike in the back to go somewhere for a ride. One thing that surprised me with the power tail gate. When closing, no amount of resistance will stop it from closing. Unlike the windows that have the pinch protection. That really surprised me.

It sounds like that hatch has a problem. Mine stops quite easily, as should all of them. I would bring this to the attention of them when you return it because that one is defective and it is a safety issue.

[Stubek]

Is it the 3.0TDI? Has the 2.0TDI made it to the US?
I have been getting over 30MPG steadily on the highway with my 2L gas Q5 and now even with the APR tune.
City is low to mid 20's depending how you drive it. My lifetime (almost) MPG on trip#2 is around 23mpg which is the combined MPG over the last 40k miles or so.
See how much you can get out of a tank. My best was 575 miles and when I filled it that time it took 19. So i had a gallon left.

This was the 3.0TDI. In the end, we did just over 200 miles. About half was highway, about half was city. The city we both were having fun with it and flooring it any chance we got, so that did not help, but we ended the trip with 29.2 MPG. Quite impressed.
My A4 with Stage 2 APR, FMIC, HFC, Full Exhaust gets about 33 on the highway, but most of my driving is either city or stop and go traffic on the highway, so I only average about 20mpg.

Good to know the Q5 TDI has a 20 gallon tank. When I returned it, the computer still said 420 miles to empty. I have a feeling if I had tried to drive to LA, I could have gotten the 575 or 600. Now my wife is deciding between this and the Tesla X when it comes out...

[Stubek]

It sounds like that hatch has a problem. Mine stops quite easily, as should all of them. I would bring this to the attention of them when you return it because that one is defective and it is a safety issue.

Good to know. The one time I tried it, I used my hand and I was able to hold the hatch, but I could feel it still trying and when I stopped holding it, it just slammed shut. Defective is scary considering this vehicle had less than 50 miles on it when they gave it to me

[SQive]

Good to know. The one time I tried it, I used my hand and I was able to hold the hatch, but I could feel it still trying and when I stopped holding it, it just slammed shut. Defective is scary considering this vehicle had less than 50 miles on it when they gave it to me

Now, once it latches it will continue to clamp down, so you don't want to have your fingers in there.
When I was installing the remote-close module, it tried to close on me two or three times but it didn't take much resistance to reverse it.

[Stubek]

Now, once it latches it will continue to clamp down, so you don't want to have your fingers in there.
When I was installing the remote-close module, it tried to close on me two or three times but it didn't take much resistance to reverse it.

I let AoA know this was an issue on this specific car. Good to know there is safety in the design and that it was just this one car.

[Smittylube]

Hey Kevin, how did you get your hands in it for the extended test drive? That's what I need to be sure I'm getting the options I want or think I want.


Steve

[Stubek]

Hey Kevin, how did you get your hands in it for the extended test drive? That's what I need to be sure I'm getting the options I want or think I want.


Steve

Can't really say, there is an NDA involved, but it is beta test for something Audi will hopefully make public in a few months. Just got lucky and answered the phone when Audi called me.

[Smittylube]

that makes it even more fun!

[snig]

Can't really say, there is an NDA involved, but it is beta test for something Audi will hopefully make public in a few months. Just got lucky and answered the phone when Audi called me.

Should we wait for the 2016s??

[boomtime]

Can't really say, there is an NDA involved, but it is beta test for something Audi will hopefully make public in a few months. Just got lucky and answered the phone when Audi called me.

Sounds like you should lock the thread now!

Should we wait for the 2016s??

He is basically saying yes.
I hope its the night vision!

[Stubek]

Sounds like you should lock the thread now!




He is basically saying yes.
I hope its the night vision!

Nope, has nothing to do with any specific model or model year. Probably not a feature we will see on cars sold by Audi for several years, but more a new program from Audi


Anyways, the Q% TDI was great. My wife is waiting for the Tesla X to come out. Once she gets a test drive of those, then she will pick between the Q5 and the Model X

[boomtime]

My wife is waiting for the Tesla X to come out. Once she gets a test drive of those, then she will pick between the Q5 and the Model X

In the meantime she can lease a Q for executive lease 24 months, if necessary.
Im hopeful the Model X will be under 40k myself

[Stubek]

In the meantime she can lease a Q for executive lease 24 months, if necessary.
Im hopeful the Model X will be under 40k myself

Doubt the model X will be under 70k. Maybe the basic model will be 50-55, but when the S came out, they have 3 lines of it, after a few months, they cancelled the basic because those had been about 50 cars total out of 500+.

[boomtime]

Doubt the model X will be under 70k. Maybe the basic model will be 50-55, but when the S came out, they have 3 lines of it, after a few months, they cancelled the basic because those had been about 50 cars total out of 500+.

I remember an interview Musk gave about the X last year seemed like he was saying that it would have to be affordable and thats the reason for the delay.