Standing next to the petrol-powered Q5, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a diesel. So is the rapid tick-tick-tick of direct injection. Cruising around, the effortless powertrain shifts up between 1800-2100 RPM, slipping into seventh at seventy. Sadly at these revs, a diesel-like note is omnipresent...
This car has been well designed to compete with Merc and BMW. Genuine leather seats and seat design makes driving comfortable. Leg room for back passengers is great. The MMI and dashboard controls are very informative and user friendly. However paying a premium for the CVT performance is a little of a shame as the lag is too long, and when the power kicks in it takes a lot of attention to make acceleration smooth, with frequent traction control kicking in...
