RE: Audi SQ5 Plus: Review

[Dave Hedgehog]

you would be a brave person to spend 50k+ on an oil burner with all the news reports on how they are now responsible for killing off all the penguins

[aeropilot]

Dan Trent said:

smilo996 said:

Change the wheels and Logo, hey presto, a Porsche.

Or look under the skirts of a Macan, spot all the chassis/powertrain components with four rings stamped on them and, hey presto, an Audi with 20 per cent added to the price!

Dan

Until you drive both back to back....

Steering in the Macan (for electric) was actually quite good, one of the better ones I've tried. Suspension with PASM on 20" rims in the Macan was leagues better than the Audi.
So, whatever Porsche engineers have done is way better than Audi's engineers.
Whether it's worth the premium over the Audi is another matter entirely. If you want more grunt, you have to go Audi and out up with a worse chassis, or take less grunt and go with the Porker.
Or.....go with the Porker and have a petrol (but wait 12+ months for one )

[TuxMan]

I looked seriously at a Macan but i just cannot get past its looks !!! The SQ5 is a much prettier beast .

[richyd]

donutsina911 said:

I don't think Dan's far off the money actually. I've just spec'd up a Macan on the Porsche site and with comparable options to the SQ5 we bought and it comes in at £50,558. (http://www.porsche-code.com/PHR4NCI1) Our invoice was for £42,179, so 17% less...

So you got a good dealer discount..? The SQ5 in the article apparently retails at over £50k.....maybe Audi have hiked their prices..?? The Macan retails at c£46k, so 10% cheaper, not 20% more expensive..

Anyhoo - the price wasn't an issue for me, they're all around the same number. It was the driving experience that did it for me. Bit of a pain having to wait over a year to get one, but then the excellent resale prices helped soften that blow. Having spent over £500/month on depreciation on two hot derv Beemers in the past, I'd be lying if I said the prospect of virtually no depreciation on the Macan wasn't an issue to me.

[GTEYE]

E65Ross said:

Bhuvsta said:

ahenners said:

Alucidnation said:

What the fk is with this obsession with vague steering and understeer?

So what?

Near enough everyone that purchases this will not be necessarily pushing this car anywhere near its limits.


Jesus.

Might as well just buy the 2.0TDI S Line Plus and save £15k then.

Indeed. You would expect a performance version to have decent handling.

Most people don't care about how much steering feel there is. They'll care far more about straight line performance than that. And that's why this is their better option over the 2.0 diesel. I'm surprised neither of you can grasp that.

Most potential owners will be thinking more about what the neighbours will think than the actual performance on offer.

And the neighbours most likely won't tell the difference. So, £15k saved, ker-ching.

[E65Ross]

GTEYE said:

E65Ross said:

Bhuvsta said:

ahenners said:

Alucidnation said:

What the fk is with this obsession with vague steering and understeer?

So what?

Near enough everyone that purchases this will not be necessarily pushing this car anywhere near its limits.


Jesus.

Might as well just buy the 2.0TDI S Line Plus and save £15k then.

Indeed. You would expect a performance version to have decent handling.

Most people don't care about how much steering feel there is. They'll care far more about straight line performance than that. And that's why this is their better option over the 2.0 diesel. I'm surprised neither of you can grasp that.

Most potential owners will be thinking more about what the neighbours will think than the actual performance on offer.

And the neighbours most likely won't tell the difference. So, £15k saved, ker-ching.

what a marvellous assumption

[SteveS Cup]

I'm fairly sure David Lloyd held a group buy on these SQ5's as they're more popular in the car park than Range Rover's at the moment.

It's easy to see why too in my opinion. Decent size, quite, frugal and not bad money for what it is / compared to it's competition.

[damianmkv]

The q5 has taken a double whammy in the last 6 months - a ( slight ) price increase and also a whack on the residuals due to a new model coming next year. This meant that the difference on the same specced s-line plus diesel was around £60/month when I checked a few weeks ago.

Hilariously, one Audi dealer wanted £830/month for a 2 month old q5 2.0 tdi s-line plus. What sort of sales patter is that ?

I obviously should've bought one at the start of the year instead of faffing around

[PhilboSE]

big_rob_sydney said:

"Is it a knockout?"

Sure. At 2+ tonnes, whatever, or rather whoever, you hit, you'll go through.

It'll behave identically to any other 2 ton car I'd imagine. Of which there are many on the roads. Such as the one you choose to drive.

big_rob_sydney said:

Yep, this is yet another critique on the weight of these behemoths. Fully laden with family and crap, god only knows how much it'll weigh then.

Newsflash...that family and "crap" will weigh the same regardless of the car they're in. What's your solution: a fixed limit on total vehicular weight i.e. the bigger your family the smaller and lighter car you have to buy? Genius.

big_rob_sydney said:

The vehicular arms race is vulgar and crass. If people say things like "I only bought it so I could see over the traffic ahead of me", then what happens when everyone else does the same. Stupidity at its finest.

To what vehicular arms race do you refer? You seem to have a thing about tall cars. Do you think that manufacturers are trying to build taller cars than each other? If it's powerful cars you have a thing against, you're probably on the wrong website.

[E65Ross]

PhilboSE said:

big_rob_sydney said:

"Is it a knockout?"

Sure. At 2+ tonnes, whatever, or rather whoever, you hit, you'll go through.

It'll behave identically to any other 2 ton car I'd imagine. Of which there are many on the roads. Such as the one you choose to drive.

big_rob_sydney said:

Yep, this is yet another critique on the weight of these behemoths. Fully laden with family and crap, god only knows how much it'll weigh then.

Newsflash...that family and "crap" will weigh the same regardless of the car they're in. What's your solution: a fixed limit on total vehicular weight i.e. the bigger your family the smaller and lighter car you have to buy? Genius.

big_rob_sydney said:

The vehicular arms race is vulgar and crass. If people say things like "I only bought it so I could see over the traffic ahead of me", then what happens when everyone else does the same. Stupidity at its finest.

To what vehicular arms race do you refer? You seem to have a thing about tall cars. Do you think that manufacturers are trying to build taller cars than each other? If it's powerful cars you have a thing against, you're probably on the wrong website.

He does make some.... Interesting comments! But driving an LS and then moaning about the weight is a bit odd. Whilst the Lexus is lighter, it's still a very heavy car. There's nothing wrong with that, but I think he should stick with an IS instead of an LS.... Especially if he has a family to put in it

[J4CKO]

Dave Hedgehog said:

you would be a brave person to spend 50k+ on an oil burner with all the news reports on how they are now responsible for killing off all the penguins

Good point but not an issue for a 2 year lease I guess.

[stuart-b]

Another big, heavy, ugly* polluting diesel.

Yawn.

• OK I retract that comment, it looks like a 10 year old model A4 from the front.

[donutsina911]

richyd said:

donutsina911 said:

I don't think Dan's far off the money actually. I've just spec'd up a Macan on the Porsche site and with comparable options to the SQ5 we bought and it comes in at £50,558. (http://www.porsche-code.com/PHR4NCI1) Our invoice was for £42,179, so 17% less...

So you got a good dealer discount..? The SQ5 in the article apparently retails at over £50k.....maybe Audi have hiked their prices..?? The Macan retails at c£46k, so 10% cheaper, not 20% more expensive..

Anyhoo - the price wasn't an issue for me, they're all around the same number. It was the driving experience that did it for me. Bit of a pain having to wait over a year to get one, but then the excellent resale prices helped soften that blow. Having spent over £500/month on depreciation on two hot derv Beemers in the past, I'd be lying if I said the prospect of virtually no depreciation on the Macan wasn't an issue to me.

No better than drivethedeal...the one in the article is a Plus, with a few more hp, some decent options as standard and can be had on drivethedeal for a smidge over £45k.

[PHMatt]

I've just changed from an e46 330 petrol convertible to an F25 X3 30D
It's considerably faster than the E46 was. Not as fun sure, but i need a big boot for new baby stuff (and no, it didn't all fit in an estate!)

Regarding someone's comment that as the Audi understeers why not just get a 2.0....
Have a word. The X3 is about 1.9t and the Audi heavier. I find it odd that anyone buying one would even consider a low power option like a 2.0
No one uses 300+ bhp in the bends they use it for overtaking prats in 2.0S doing 53 in the middle lane. A 2t car with only 180bhp over about 1k revs is going to struggle doing that a lot of the time.

But then again, most people slagging them off have never even been in one let alone driven or owned one nor been in the position to need one.

[big_rob_sydney]

E65Ross said:

PhilboSE said:

big_rob_sydney said:

"Is it a knockout?"

Sure. At 2+ tonnes, whatever, or rather whoever, you hit, you'll go through.

It'll behave identically to any other 2 ton car I'd imagine. Of which there are many on the roads. Such as the one you choose to drive.

big_rob_sydney said:

Yep, this is yet another critique on the weight of these behemoths. Fully laden with family and crap, god only knows how much it'll weigh then.

Newsflash...that family and "crap" will weigh the same regardless of the car they're in. What's your solution: a fixed limit on total vehicular weight i.e. the bigger your family the smaller and lighter car you have to buy? Genius.

big_rob_sydney said:

The vehicular arms race is vulgar and crass. If people say things like "I only bought it so I could see over the traffic ahead of me", then what happens when everyone else does the same. Stupidity at its finest.

To what vehicular arms race do you refer? You seem to have a thing about tall cars. Do you think that manufacturers are trying to build taller cars than each other? If it's powerful cars you have a thing against, you're probably on the wrong website.

He does make some.... Interesting comments! But driving an LS and then moaning about the weight is a bit odd. Whilst the Lexus is lighter, it's still a very heavy car. There's nothing wrong with that, but I think he should stick with an IS instead of an LS.... Especially if he has a family to put in it

It never ceases to amaze me.

Attacking the messenger, whilst "conveniently" sidestepping the message. This is an article about the SQ5, not about a Lexus, as has been pointed out multiple times in previous threads.

The SQ5 is a fat bd of a car, and will crush most things it comes into contact with. That's physics 101.

And no matter what bullst argument you try to use to distract from that, you cannot escape the laws of physics.

[GTEYE]

E65Ross said:

GTEYE said:

E65Ross said:

Bhuvsta said:

ahenners said:

Alucidnation said:

What the fk is with this obsession with vague steering and understeer?

So what?

Near enough everyone that purchases this will not be necessarily pushing this car anywhere near its limits.


Jesus.

Might as well just buy the 2.0TDI S Line Plus and save £15k then.

Indeed. You would expect a performance version to have decent handling.

Most people don't care about how much steering feel there is. They'll care far more about straight line performance than that. And that's why this is their better option over the 2.0 diesel. I'm surprised neither of you can grasp that.

Most potential owners will be thinking more about what the neighbours will think than the actual performance on offer.

And the neighbours most likely won't tell the difference. So, £15k saved, ker-ching.

what a marvellous assumption

The point is that many (not all) will be bought because of the assumed status in the golf club car park, or similar.

A surprising number of 911s only get driven very slowly through city streets for exactly the same reason.

I'm not saying its right, but it is a fact.

[Icehanger]

To be honest I'm considering one of these, it looks like it would do the family thing well. yes its the old platform but the carwow price is nicely discounted to reflect that. I agree with Dan would love to see that S version of the BiT engine in the A6 Avant, my current 313PS one really is epic coupled with the sports diff its quite a q car.

[E65Ross]

GTEYE said:

E65Ross said:

GTEYE said:

E65Ross said:

Bhuvsta said:

ahenners said:

Alucidnation said:

What the fk is with this obsession with vague steering and understeer?

So what?

Near enough everyone that purchases this will not be necessarily pushing this car anywhere near its limits.


Jesus.

Might as well just buy the 2.0TDI S Line Plus and save £15k then.

Indeed. You would expect a performance version to have decent handling.

Most people don't care about how much steering feel there is. They'll care far more about straight line performance than that. And that's why this is their better option over the 2.0 diesel. I'm surprised neither of you can grasp that.

Most potential owners will be thinking more about what the neighbours will think than the actual performance on offer.

And the neighbours most likely won't tell the difference. So, £15k saved, ker-ching.

what a marvellous assumption

The point is that many (not all) will be bought because of the assumed status in the golf club car park, or similar.

A surprising number of 911s only get driven very slowly through city streets for exactly the same reason.

I'm not saying its right, but it is a fact.

The posers may go for a Q7 and not Q5 models..... Or they'd go for Porsche and not Audi.

And secondly, is there anything wrong with that?

You seem to assume all fast cars must be driven fast by owners, or they're posers. You don't have to drive 8t fast to enjoy it. As someone else has also mentioned, having the extra power is great for overtaking, 8 doubt many owners give a toss whether it has good steering feel or not, as long as it's direct and precise enough.

[PhilboSE]

big_rob_sydney said:

It never ceases to amaze me.

Attacking the messenger, whilst "conveniently" sidestepping the message. This is an article about the SQ5, not about a Lexus, as has been pointed out multiple times in previous threads.

The SQ5 is a fat bd of a car, and will crush most things it comes into contact with. That's physics 101.

And no matter what bullst argument you try to use to distract from that, you cannot escape the laws of physics.

"The laws of physics". You keep using that phrase. It does not mean what you think it means.

Any attributes you apply to the SQ5 on grounds of weight apply equally to any car of a similar weight. Those are the laws of physics. No-one is attacking your choice of car, but you're too dim to recognise that. If it's OK for you to drive a "fat bd" of a car, why is not for anybody else?

Face facts, you're prejudiced against SUVs for whatever reason, but you rationalise your prejudice with stupid arguments about SUVs being "too long" or "too heavy" without being able to recognise that these characteristics apply to any car with similar attributes, not just SUVs. And then the kicker is that you choose to drive a car which is just as long and heavy - the specific attributes which YOU choose to define something as a "selfish behemoth". Which makes you either a hypocrite, or stupid. Or both.

Edited by PhilboSE on Wednesday 15th June 13:44

[big_rob_sydney]

PhilboSE said:

"The laws of physics". You keep using that phrase. It does not mean what you think it means.

Any attributes you apply to the SQ5 on grounds of weight apply equally to any car of a similar weight. Those are the laws of physics. No-one is attacking your choice of car, but you're too dim to recognise that. If it's OK for you to drive a "fat bd" of a car, why is not for anybody else?

Face facts, you're prejudiced against SUVs for whatever reason, but you rationalise your prejudice with stupid arguments about SUVs being "too long" or "too heavy" without being able to recognise that these characteristics apply to any car with similar attributes, not just SUVs. And then the kicker is that you choose to drive a car which is just as long and heavy - the specific attributes which YOU choose to define something as a "selfish behemoth". Which makes you either a hypocrite, or stupid. Or both.

Edited by PhilboSE on Wednesday 15th June 13:44

Phil,
Again, you're attacking the messenger, and ignoring the message.

The laws of physics means precisely what I think it means. A heavier car has more momentum. The SQ5 is a heavy car. Add a potent engine to accelerate the mass, and you have vectors and moments at play significantly above that of the most popular vehicle on the road. Just doing a google search, it says the most popular vehicle is the Fiesta. The Fiesta's mass is listed here:

http://www.edmunds.com/ford/fiesta/2016/features-s...

2578 pounds.

Sorry to say, but if someone was in a Fiesta, and had a head on with this barge, it wouldnt be pretty.

But thats ok. Phil can stun us all with his twisted physics. He can argue away the fact that the SQ5 will obliterate the oncoming family. Fingers crossed for you that none of your own family ever find themselves in this situation. I would hate to think of you trying to positively spin a eulogy under the circumstances that had a selfish prick take a family member from you.