geronimosan

Well it's finally here - woohoo! Pics and dealership story to come later, but I've spent the last day and a half just driving - already put 200 miles on it - and absolutely loving it! Have heard a few noises though, and wanted to quickly pop in to the house to make the post before heading back out again!

My trade-in car was 12 years old and full of noises, so needless to say I'm a bit paranoid hearing anything seemingly out of the ordinary on this new Q5. I quickly did a search on the forums for the various issues, and didn't find anything that helped, so I'm hoping you current Q5 2.0T owners can assist - let me know if these are things that are normal, or might be a possible concern.

1) 2.0T Engine when Accelerating - When I apply even moderate acceleration, with the windows down I can pretty clearly hear what sounds like a mixture of the squeal of a loose belt and a very slight metalic grinding noise. Now, I know this is a turbo engine, and I have heard the steady high pitched whine of a turbo kicking in, and in my opinion, this isn't the same thing - it sounds more erratic, less of a whine, and more like a whistle/squeal. The amount of this noise has lessened a little as I put some miles on the car, but it is still there. My trade-in had a loose belt that squealed when I accelerated, and it was really annoying; I hope this isn't what the 2.0T engine is supposed to sound like.

2) Parking Brake - When I engage and disengage the Parking Brake, it makes a loud hydraulic noise, and I can even hear the little motor working. Is this normal? I would assume an electromagnetic brake would be quieter?

3) Front Suspension - when going over a speed bump, the front suspension makes a loud hissing noise, but the rear suspension makes no noise. I understand the air is getting pushed out of the front shock absorbers, which causes the hissing sound, but I would expect the same sound out of the rear absorbers as well. Is the fact that the loud hissing happens only with the front, and not the back, possibly an indicator of something amiss?


I realize my paranoia level is heightened due to owning the new car and expecting everything to be completely silent, so it wouldn't surprise me if the last two are normal, but I'm just looking for a sanity check. The Turbo noise - someone please tell me that's not normal, that hopefully it can be fixed, or muted.


But, other than those issues, absolutely AWESOME car!! Okay, back to the road. Thanks in advance for the input!

GaryZ

Don't know about the first one, but the last two happens on mine as well. I owned a Passat prior to Q5, which does the same thing (parking brake & suspension), so I assume it's just normal.

Heresy64

The noise you're hearing when you engage the parking brake is normal. The parking brake is electric and you are hearing the motors engage the brake.

Jusforfun

1) Have you got the roof bars on? 2)done 3)slow down.

JohnBoyToo

in my experience, a whistle is normally indicative of an air leak...
especially on a turbo engine - a buddy of mine with the same turbo deezle had a SMALL crack in the turbo tube and under boost is the only time it would whistle... but honestly, have not ridden with the windows down to hear our Q's engine...

our ebrake is 'noisy' too.... the few times we've used it...
my opinion is that it is clamping down with extreme forces and therefore makes noise, almost like a vice crushing something

hissing from front - again, I have not listened that closely to ours either
but the wife has and asked for a little throatier exhaust note to mask the lil 4 cyl engine noises....

geronimosan

Thanks all for your input. Much appreciated!

I can live with the #2 and #3 sounds, just wanted the sanity check.

For #1, yes, the roof racks are off! Waiting on a return call from the Service Department now, will ask about possible air leak and such. I just can't believe that this whistling/squealing is the Turbo "whine" that this engine would make.

rdA4WtQ5

Of all 3 turbo Audi's I have had, my Q5 is the loudest. I like the sound on mine. It is loudest when it first spools up then quiets down. For reference, My wife's b7 2.0t turbo whine is barely noticable at all and the 1.8t was only a little louder than that.

geronimosan

Just got back from dealership, and he was able to hear the noise, which he said he thought was a little loud - "maybe there is something wrong". Then we test drove one of their loaner 2.0T cars, and it made the same whistle.

Technician was a little surprised - said he had never really noticed it before, but then said he had never driven one with the windows rolled down, either.

So, all the noises are normal. The 2.0T turbo whistle will have to grow on me.

tridentnyc

Geronimosan,

I have a sound I'm trying to figure out is turbo whine or not. Particularly when the 2.0T is cold and driving it's first mile or so I hear a high pitched whine (not whistle) during light to moderate acceleration. It sounds mor like a transmission whine when one quickly backs up a vehicle in reverse, like at 10mph or so.
After the Q warms it mostly goes away but is definitely still there. Not sure what this is, could it be turbo whine?
Thanks.

MonzaA5

1) Supercharges whine, turbochargers whistle. The whistle should not be continuos and should really only be audible under load in the 2000-3000 rpm range.

2) Totally normal.

3) Sounds normal...remember, there's more weight upfront.