jpnwdc

Turned in my 2016 Q5 a week ago. Love the way the new Q5 drives but what did they do to the seats?? Front seats are super hard. Man not sure what to do. Can current owners comment on the comfort after break in? We tried the warm weather seats and can't say much better. I would really like to stay with Audi but concerned now.

Will in Evergreen

Seats are obviously a highly personalized preference. I have a 2018 Q5 with cold-weather seating. They are very comfortable. I routinely drive cross-country and put in 12 to 14 hour days of driving. No pain.

spindlewood

I have the diamond stitched Napa leather. It felt hard and uncomfortable at first, but after a year, I rarely notice any discomfort. Either it has softened up or I've hardened. I think the former and find the seats comfortable. Definitely not cushy though.

jpnwdc

Do you have warm weather seats or standard seats with heaters?

Zeus69

I have warm/cold weather packages with perforated Milano leather on my 2019 SQ5.
I find them both comfortable and supportive.

spindlewood

I have the standard seats with heaters - not the warm weather package.

rdA4WtQ5

The Q5 has (2) seat choices, standard leather heated seats and warm weather package Milano perforated heated and air cooled sport seats.

The SQ5 has (3) seat choices, standard microfiber with leather bolsters heated sport seats (not available on the Q5), warm weather package Milano perforated heated and air cooled sport seats (look to be the same as available on the Q5), and the heated fine Nappa Leather diamond stitched sport seats (not available at all on the Q5 or base (premium) model SQ5.

It is quite understandable there is some seat confusion in a shared forum. From very early posts regarding the standard Q5 seats, they were reviewed to be less soft and comfortable compared to the previous generation standard leather seats. And I tend to agree from my own short term sitting experience.

From a marketing standpoint, there seems to be a bigger push in the new generation to get folks to upgrade the trims to be able to get the better seats that they want. And if they make the base Q5 seat less universally comfortable more folks will upgrade relatively.
And for the SQ5, how well does that base microfiber and leather seat hold up for the long haul? Causing folks to upgrade to get the better seats there?

ronsal

OP is asking about the Q5 seats, which I believe are different than the SQ5 seats. When I first got the Q5, the seats did seem hard. After 16,000 miles and 14 months, they definitely became more comfortable. The SQ5 seats were comfortable right out of the box, but the seating position was different due to the higher bolsters and what seems to be a deeper back. As far as the middle of the seats, or the seat inserts, the S seems softer, but that might be due to the Napa leather and its stitching pattern. Seatbacks on the Q also seemed a bit flatter.
All in all, the seats in the Q were comfortable as time went on. But the S seemed more comfortable from the getgo.

jaims

To those who like firm seats, than to you the Q5 seats are comfortable. But by and large, the 2018 -19 Q5 seats are firm, and for many of us, its not as comfortable as we’d like. After test driving several other 2018 models before deciding on the Q5, it was pretty obvious how much firmer the Q5 seats are.

One way this became patently obvious was when I bought a seat cushion on line (dozens of varieties of shapes, sizes, density, fit, and quality). I bought one that was much firmer and better quality than most and because the foam could be removed from a zippered opening, I even trimmed it to fit better in my warm weather Prestige seats.

To anyone who thinks these seats are not firm, I bet if you drove a day with this cushion, upon removal you would instantly feel a stark difference. Once your rear end becomes used to more “give” via the seat cushion, the stock seats firmness would feel almost over the top once removed. I did this with the passenger seat. Wife didn’t think it was that firm until I asked her to drive with me for an hour with her sitting on my seat cushion. Immediately after removal of the cushion, she was really surprised just how firm the seats felt to her.

I have driven three different loaner versions of the Q5, all with different seats. The one I found with the least firmness was the base model PP.

The firmness of the seats is the one Q5 feature that goes on the “con” side of the sheet, for me and others I suspect who would prefer more give in the seats. But like I said, if a firm seat is something you find comfortable, than you’d give the Q5 seats a high grade.

ribeye

When I was buying my 2018, I wanted the vented seats as i live in Florida USA where it gets hot. On my test drive, I thought they were hard and the very uncomfortable. So I test drove one with regular seats and I thought that was hard, but not as bad. People have said they will loosten up after time but its been almost a year (but only 6000 miles) and they still seem hard. I have a after market cushion on the seat. If I decide to keep the car for any length of time, I am considering taking it to a Upholstery shop and having some padding added if they can. When I was looking for a car, I was going to get a BMW X3 but the Bolsters (I think I used the right word) dug into my back. They had changed all their sears to Sport for the 2019 line. I was ready to sign on the dotted line because they had found one that I wanted and met my price, but because of the seats I did not.