gagethrash

I wouldn't be so sure if the diesel premium would be worth it if the TDI wasn't such an explosive TORQUE bomb. Spoiled all the other Q5's for me except for the SQ5; however the SQ will turn into a money pit. The TDI (comparably speaking) won't.

You made the right decision, hands down.

P.S. Audi's "official" 0-60 time of 6.5 seconds for the TDI is crap. C&D's 5.8 and MotorTrend's 5.7 make much more sense IMO

tbinmd

x2, The TDI has gobbs of power off the line. Whereas the 2.0, is a bit weak. The lag isn't as bad as it was back in 2011 models. But it's still there. Wife still doesn't like the lack of the power/smoothness in the 2.0. She said no way to buying one. Now the TDI is a different story. I think if you want to compare the TDI to a gas engine, you will need to compare it to the 3.0T, the power responsiveness are more in line, then compared the the 2.0. The 2.0 is an entry vehicle to get people into the product. And where does the hybrid play in all this?, seems to be the ugly step child.

Sigq5

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we are also very pleased with our 2015 TDI.
No mechanical trouble at all. We did have a plastic piece where front tag goes begin to peel. This was promptly replaced by dealer.
Also agree with recommendation to get Audi Care

kreativecid

Apologies if replying to your months old post is poor netiquette.

I was given a base 2.0 Q5. It was 2 weeks of poor performance and lack of thrill. Of course, it's a loaner car. I was coming from a 2013 A5 Premium Plus with nav, sport pkg and apr Stage 1 (which wreaked havoc on the ecu, but that's another story) so my feeling of the 2.0q5 was apples to oranges.

Fast forward and I demo'd a 2016 q5 TDI. Had some good options and the torque was nice. Make that VERY NICE and with minimal turbo lag but I am very sensitive (read: whiney) to turbo lag even on the Macan S demo. The salesman owns/leases a tricked out TDI and said the 35mpg highway was the selling point over the SQ5, plus his family didn't need a supercharged monster. They wanted a q5 with great gas mileage and driving fun the 2.0 doesn't come with.

I don't tow. Rarely do long road trips. I work from home and all my short errands should be fun and crazy like the sq5 provides (I'm surrounded by flowing winding roads that are always empty M-F).

I did walk the line about an S-Line tdi but the cost was about $3000 less than my "get it off the lot" sq5 fully loaded. Used nicely equipped tdi are more rare than a dancing unicorn. Why sell such an impressive vehicle?! I never complained about gas mileage, or lack of, I always got bored with my other Audis' performance (aforementioned A5 and Q3). So home came the sq5. All the Fuelly reports of 25-28 combined for the tdi are nice! My lead foot doesn't even want to know what the fuelly would be on the sq5, ha. On a sidenote I ride a ktm super duke 1290 that gets 42mpg if I ride like a nun and still over 30mpg if I ride like it's stolen.

As for your relative comparison about the sq5 being a money pit is that purely based on mpg or maintenance such as tires? I'm asking in a non-inflammatory/defensive SQ5 owner tone. Merely to get info. Again, I work from home so many of the factors weren't deal breakers for my sq5 purchase. I'm always in Dynamic with esc turned off and slid over to "manual" shifting. That's why I got a sq5. The difference with esc turned off and manually clicking gears makes an sq5 in auto D/esc on pale in comparison. Many mags are getting around 4.4 to 4.8s 0-60 times driven that way.

PS: Oh, to have Europe's SQ5 tdi!

idale

From the rest of your post I would assume (hope) you were testing the TDI in S? D's programmed to second-guess quick throttle changes, while S will give you power right away. I've never personally noticed any turbo lag (not that it says others wouldn't), just the programmed lag from D wanting to make sure you "meant to do that". If you tested in D, though, that was the problem right there. I usually run in D because it's not too bad and I can flip over to S if I know I'm going to want to burst out of the gates and don't want to risk asking D for too much too quickly.

It can still be good to track consumption even if it's going to be "depressing", just so you can track how it's doing over time and if you run into a dip then that can be a signal of a problem (which you might not have noticed otherwise -- but maybe you would via butt dyno ).

kreativecid

Yes, sir, I did. I'm alllll about switching, flipping and tinkering with every option. When I touch ESC off and go to S the salesman knows I know....

I think my purchase decision had more to do with not being a highway driver and the similarly equipped 2016 tdi being EXACTLY the same price as my discounted 2015 sq5 (edited post after building tdi with same features). Full throttle TDI in S results in water bottle caps being flung into the rear cargo area from passengers who were not quite ready. Obviously cost of ownership just from gas rewards the long distance and highway driver. I'm neither. I was cross shopping a 2016 Mustang GT V8, Golf R and Macan so that should point to my priorities at this point in life. But from everything I've read and seen a nicely equipped sporty TDI is darn near the best combo of all worlds if you're an Audi fan putting in serious miles and looking for one car to do it all.

Yoshimura

SQ5 FTW! No compromises!!!

asmi84

It seems rather weird to me that people who can afford to shell out 60k+ for the vehicle are so worked up over saving few bucks at a pump. Maybe it's just me who is currently driving V8-powered sedan with big "F**k the fuel economy" sign on it (not literally, but by the frequency I show up at the pump). I can get that some like diesel because of torque, but fuel economy... IMHO people who actually want to save money would never buy Audi in the first place.

Hence my choice is:
This!

Don Keener

Exactly... My TDI was not motivated by fuel mileage... it was motivated by TORQUE. The long range giving more time between fillups was a nice extra but not a prime motivation. From an economics perspective I doubt I will every 'save' the extra cost of the engine unless it is with higher value when i resell it and buy another one

gagethrash

I think the biggest reason people pick the TDI over the SQ5 is that the TDI can have the same acceleration force as a gas-guzzling, super-powered engine, and still get ~600 miles to a tank. Not only do you get the luxury of not having to wrap your hand around a smelly pump as often, but you also get bragging rights -- that your stupid fast car can average 30 mpg. That is part of the reason I'm going with the TDI, and the good news is that the second most fun-to-drive Q5 is the most frugal and makes the most financial sense out of the five variants.

However, I can't hold it against anyone who picked the SQ5. It's just plain sex on enormous wheels. I drove one last night and GAWD DAMMIT it's so $&@#ING FAST. Seriously I stepped on the pedal and I think I shouted a curse word of some sort...

My earlier comparisons about the SQ5 being a money pit compared to the TDI relate more to a mix of all things...engine maintenance, repairs, money spent filling up at the tank, not to mention those beautiful 21" wheels and the cost to replace those tires.

Is owning the SQ5 worth all that? In one word: abso-FREAKIN-lutely. I still prefer the TDI all things considered, but I COMPLETELY get why people get the SQ5. As someone said in another forum, it's two different flavors of sport and people will have different preferences. Both are super fast but one gets much better mileage while the other pulls much harder to redline and has an angrier and more aggressive feel.

And when I drove it at work last night, GAWD I felt the anger. That car just wanted to pull to redline and if I was taking my car to the track, I wouldn't even be thinking about the TDI. The car is like a super-luxurious WRX STi

Forget about all the other Q5s, for its the SQ5 and the TDI that make the Q5 its segment leader (sorry Porsche Macan!)