wgardner26

During my 30 minute + test drive of the 2018 Q5 yesterday (Premium, non-sport seats) I found the seat base uncomfortable with the modest thigh side supports digging into my legs. I am 6'1''/205. I felt as though the seat base was not wide enough, which was surprising. The sports seats in my 2015 335 are much more comfortable as are those in my wife's fully optioned 2016 Sorento (very nice SUV, but certainly doesn't drive like an Audi). Unfortunately, local dealers do not have Q5 models with sport seats given the warm weather package is not a popular option in my area. If I can resolve the seat comfort issue I will seriously consider the new Q5. This would be my first Audi. As an aside, I was taken aback by the lease financing rate (~5%) the sales rep quoted for top-tier credit, which significantly impacted the monthly pmt. I was told Audi sets the MF high for new launches and then lowers over time. I thought the MF would not vary much between vehicles - always learning.

Bob Petruska

To all the seat complainers..............

If you really love the new 2018 Q5 and the only problem is the seat comfort, you can do the following.

You already paid approximately $50-60K for the Q5.

Just go to a custom upholstery shop and get the seats done right. Should cost a lowly $500 -1K compared to what you already paid and you will have it custom fitted to your body needs.

My father wanted a Subaru Outback in a certain exterior color and interior color. You couldn't get the interior color he wanted with the exterior color.
We had the new Outback redone at an independent shop in the correct interior color in custom leather for $1K.

It's not hard to do this, you just need to have the enthusiasm to do so!

OHWHATDA

I test drove the 2018 Q5 today. One with Premium Plus with regular seats and one Prestige with Sport Seats. I could definitely feel the hard seat side plastic on the regular seat. I was able to shift myself to where I was comfortable on the regular seat (I'm 6'2", 180 pounds) so I think I would be fine with them, but the Sport Seats that come with the Warm Weather package were even more comfortable and I wasn't able to feel the hard plastic at all because of the big side bolstering. I'd probably say the Warm Weather Package would be a requirement for anyone who has a larger body type, because I could definitely see that hard side plastic getting annoying. I'm on the skinnier end and I could definitely feel it on my left side if I wasn't sitting very slightly favoring the right side of the seat.

Turbo Freak

The big side bolstering are probably fine if your back is not too wide. At 6'2" and 180lbs, you are quite slender. The big side bolstering were really digging in my sides after an hour or two driving. Every time I would get back in the car, I would say to myself: well, this is not so bad, I must be over reacting, but when I get out of the car after an hour or more, I was feeling very bad about the seats. Fortunately, my dealer was great and took back the car since it was a CPO. I am now trying to get used to the regular seats. They do not dig the leg like the Q5 seats since the sitting position in an A4 is probably not as upright, but the side bolsters on those seats go higher and bother me just under the armpits. I suppose I should get use to it in a few weeks.

trickwoof

you have a 2018 q5 cpo? isn't it too early for that?

Mythdoc

Not a great look for Audi, IMO. They are already a luxury brand. Shipping crappy standard seats should not be happening. Same with engine dynamics. Sport mode should be an option, not a necessity. Subtle decontenting to drive buyers further up market. But we have a blingy cockpit!!!!!!

superswiss

The lag is here to stay. This is all pretty much driven by the stringent average CO2/km requirements that were adopted with the Kyoto Protocol. If you read up on what car manufacturers have to do to meet them, it starts making sense. The only way to meet these requirements is by what's referred to as downspeeding. It's the effort to keep the average revs low. Low revs means less fuel burned, which directly translates into less CO2 emitted and it keeps these smaller FI engines out of boost, which also results in less fuel burned.

The dirty little secret about these engines is that the touted fuel savings are really only there if you keep it out of boost. So the transmission and engine programming is trying everything possible to keep the revs low and the engine out of boost during average driving cycles. This results in lag and lethargy. For now they give you a way out with the Sport mode, but don't be surprised if Sport mode disappears in the next decade for at least the mainstream volume sellers.

I'm predicting an awakening once the EU and EPA mandate real world driving cycles instead of the current artificial dyno cycles. At the moment everybody is chasing artificial numbers. The other day I read that the new Porsche 718 Boxter 4-cyl engine is in the real world 10% less efficient than the previous naturally aspirated 6-cyl engine. As you might imagine, somebody buying a Boxter is probably not exactly driving it like a Prius.

Turbo Freak

I bought a CPO A4, which has the same type of seats than the Q5. The OP was complaining about the seats, since I had a similar problem with the seats of the A4, I jumped in the conversation. I also test drove a new Q5 with the confort seats as they call them in Canada. The comfort seats are the same as the sport seats but are also ventilated. These were the seats of my CPO A4 and like the A4, those seats also felt too narrow, I even think that they were a bit worse than the A4.

I am tall and did not think that my back was particularly wide, but it seems the new Audi seats are not a good match for my body type! Never had this problem before with my previous Audi.

Roland Soltesz

Thank you all for you comments. I really wanted to love this car. But unfortunately it is falling short in several major areas.
1. The seats. They are quite horrible. I have purchased dozens of cars in my life and never had one as horrendous as this. Even my fathers cheap
Hyundai is better. It is a design fault on the Audi side. They need to fix. I don't need to go to another shop and spend 1000 on new interior.
2. It is a pain in the butt to put the engine in sport mode every time I drive. The car should default to a mode that does not detune the engine. The lag is bad without it.
3. The engine auto stop/start is a pain in the butt. You should not have to turn this off every drive as well. But the engine decides at random times when stopped to shut down. The issue is it is not a calm shut down. But the entire engine shakes to a stop.
4. The turbo spins down and clunks at stops quite often.
5. The touch lock is very finicky. Works about half the time.
6. Car sways on the fwy.

atc98092

How is it a pain to put it in sports mode? You have to shift to D any time you drive, just pull one more notch down.

I believe the stop/start can be disabled via VCDS. If you don't have a cable, there are many people that do and will gladly assist you. Most forums have an area where people with the cable advise where they live. If there isn't one here, go to the Ross-Tech forum and find one.