Audi Q5

On the inside, things are as posh, premium and futuristic as seen on many other premium Audi SUVs. The whole cabin has been revamped with better quality interior components, choice of materials and features to make it look years ahead of the current times.

The steering wheel with hexagonal center boss as well as the 12.3-inch full TFT instrument console has become a common aspect in all the modern offerings from the Audi, and the same has made its way into the Q5 as well. Even the center console layout with a rectangular free-standing touchscreen infotainment system and the central panel with hexagonal AC vents and toggle like buttons for automatic climate control has been lifted off from the Audi’s midsize models like A4.

The Q5 looks quite large from the outside, and while the same sense of largeness is translated into the cabin as well, the interior space levels could have been more considering the competition.

Compared to the drab and boring looking previous generation, the all-new Q5 looks way sharper and contemporary, thanks to the presence of more pronounced design cues and more advanced features.

The front of the Q5 has become much more aggressive in stance, thanks to the larger hexagonal grille with thicker chrome garnish. The headlamps are now placed adjacent to the grille, which are now more angular and come with better looking full LED lighting patterns and daytime running LEDs.

The side profile too has become sharper, thanks to the more angular A and C pillars as compared to the curvaceously designed pillars of the previous generation model. The windows now come with more prominent and premium looking chrome garnish, while the curve flowing from the front headlamp’s upper edge to the rear tail light’s upper edge is more pronounced. Even the alloy wheel design looks much better and premium in appearance.

At the rear, the design effect is much similar to what Audi has done to the front – minimalist and sleeker. The headlamps now are slimmer and come with more wonderful full LED lighting pattern. The silver garnish and skid plates all around the lower portion of the Q5 give it a rugged flavor.

The Audi Q5 comes with the company’s famous Quattro four-wheel drive system as standard, thanks to which the new suspension setup feels equally agile as well as composed in all kinds of driving conditions. Also, the Quattro enables the traction as well as dynamism to be equally good as well.

Audi has fitted the Q5 with the same 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine which does the duty under the hood of the A4 sedan as well. The engine, here on the Q5 as well, is in the same state of tune as in the A4, as it produces 252 PS of maximum power output and 370 Nm of peak torque output. Here too, the engine is mated to a 7-speed S-tronic dual clutch automatic gearbox, however, the gear ratios have been altered, which makes the performance quite suited to the added weight of the SUV.

Armed with all the essential safety features such as front, side and curtain airbags, ABS with EBD, traction control, hill hold assist, hill descent control, vehicle stability control, cruise control, front and rear parking sensors with all around camera and many more, the Q5 is a well equipped SUV when it comes to safety features as well.

With the new Q5, Audi has took the raised benchmarks from the rivals as well as expectations from the customers to a whole new level. With improvements in almost every area carried out quite effectively, Audi has made sure that the Q5 is here to stay and make the midsize SUV segment one of the most hotly contested ones in the current market scenario.