Gary Lancaster

Went to the Atlanta Auto Show yesterday; purpose of which was to check out the new Audi Q5. They had one there; appeared to be a pretty basic model with very few options if any. What really struck me was the incredible gap between the front tires and the wheel well. It was so apparent that you could clearly see the suspension components in the gap. I realize we're not getting the air suspension option in this country; and the display model at the Auto Show was probably on 18" tires, but the gap was so large as to be ungainly. Wonder if the final production models are more "hunkered" down. I sure hope so.

larryV

Probably will be the same as production. I believe US spec models will typically have more fender gap and higher suspension than their Euro/RoW-spec counterparts because of some federal regulation or what not in order for these cars to be classified as "light trucks". Not sure if it's a crash testing or EPA thing, but the US-spec 2014 SQ5 was affected by this in that its suspension height and resulting fender gap was no less than the stock Q5, unlike euro-spec which was much lower. Luckily the new '18 SQ5 will able to skirt around this regulation by offering an optional air suspension that is height adjustable. Unfortunately as you already know, the US-spec '18 Q5 will not have this option.

Garrett Gyssler

Do we know how/if the 'Adaptive Damping Suspension' will work to help this at all? I added that option in my order assuming it would provide more control.

larryV

No, adaptive damping suspension is simply electronically-adjustable valving on the shock absorber to change ride compliance based on Audi drive-select settings or from sportier and stiffer to softer and more comfortable, and even an "automatic" adaptive setting that changes the damping characteristics in real time based on how the car's various sensors are detecting your driving behavior. It does not change the ride height as only actual air suspension is capable of that on Audi cars.

redherring

Fender gap is very apparent even on the new configurator--hopefully not as noticeable in the actual car. I tried both the 18 and 19" wheels/tires, and no clear difference.

DennisMitchell

Rim size choice would have no effect on wheel gap. The diameter of the tires mounted on the rims are basically the same, so to not have impact on speedometer and car performance.

redherring

I get that, but I'm talking visual difference, not actual. In some cases a tire with larger sidewalls looks like it fills the gap more than a larger rim/smaller tire combination, possibly because of the larger black area.