gagethrash

Hello everybody,

I am a new member here on Audiworld and I have come with a dilemma - I have my heart set on a 6-cylinder Audi TDI, but not sure which model meets my needs. I want enough space to carry items (practicality), a car that's great for long trips, the ability to accelerate quickly (speed), reliability, and the best overall value. From your experiences, which one is better - the A6 or Q5?

lja36

Hey there, I pondered this question briefly myself, in the end I went for the Q5.. One of the salesmen explained it to me that the Q5 is the volume model.. The sales strategy is to sell lots of them at minimal profit. The A6 is the profit model... Sell fewer units but much higher mark up per unit. You can see that reflected in the pricing.. The A6 costs substantially more for the same basic guts as the Q5. The interior bits are newer and slightly higher grade, but most of the price difference is markup.

The other big consideration for me is that the A6 has gotten too long and I prefer my tires to have some sidewall for the deteriorating roads that we are getting more and more. In effect, urban off roading is become more and more of a reality and thus something going in the other direction (e.g. setting a record lap time) in my mind is irrelevant and undesirable.

The Q5 has worse aerodynamics at high speed so you will incur a mpg hit... However it's not going to be enough to make up for a $10K price difference.

MattMan3104

Another consideration between the Q5 and A6 to consider might be the handling. I traded in an '05 A6 for the Q5 TDI and I really noticed the higher center of gravity and shorter wheel base of the Q5 when I want to be a little more aggressive.

Coolieman1220

The A6 is built on a much different platform than the Q5. The A6 is a bigger more comfortable vehicle. It is more premium than the Q5. The rear seat is roomier, the trunk is larger. The MMI is more advanced.

lja36

MLB platform info:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volksw...p_MLB_platform

same engine, same transmission, most likely different final drive ratio between the 2.

- B -

Two completely different vehicles IMO.

The A6 has a few cooler features available for it, such as LED headlights and a top camera system, but I still prefer my Q5 TDi.

idale

How much space will you need? As a CUV vs. a sedan, the Q5 would have more maximum cargo room, but depending on what you'd want to carry and whether you'd want to stack above the cargo cover and/or fold the rear seats down it's possible the A6 may be more practical.

As a sedan the A6 will cut through the air better, which helps acceleration (rated 6.0 to 60 vs. 6.5) and highway mileage (rated 38mpg vs. 31).

The Q5 is based on the A4 platform, so is in the "volume" tier rather than the more upmarket tier of the A6. The Q5 is smaller, which can be good or bad depending on what you're looking for. A6 doesn't have sport seats or shift paddles if you're into either of those.

As for value, the Q5 is definitely great bang for the buck and you'll have to spend a bit more to get an A6. However, the A6 has features the Q5 doesn't, and only you can say what those might be worth to you.

lja36

Be sure to also compare lease residuals to see what they are... I suspect that the A6's higher prices will plunge faster than the Q5... So maybe a 3 year old A6 would be a fantastic deal.

gagethrash

Thanks for the feedback guys! Whichever I end up choosing will be whatever is in my price range (I'll be in the market for a CPO 2014 model by next year). I have an 2013 A4 Quattro and I love it however the diesel engine has blown my mind every time I've stepped on the gas (I do valet and recently test drove the Q5 TDI at my local Audi dealership).

Whichever model I get will have 20 inch wheels and fine grain ash interior inlay. Color choice will depend on availability but I want something easy to clean. I have Brilliant Black and it's beautiful, but it's damn near impossible to keep spotless!

Do both models ride comfortably with 20 inch wheels, or does it depend on the tire choice?

ex-quattro PETE

It does depend on tire choice to some extent, however, the 20" rims in the A6 come with 255/35 tires while the 20" rims in the Q5 come with 255/45 tires. So, because the latter have notably taller sidewalls, they will ride more comfortably, not to mention they'll be less prone to pothole damage.

Personally, if I were getting the A6, I'd go with 19" rims. Otherwise, 255/35 tires would be brutal here, but I if your roads are smooth as glass, why not.