Cute. Agile. Roomy. If you asked me what three words I would use to describe the 2014 Audi Q5 2.0, those come to mind.

When my father sat in the driver’s seat, his first words were, “Wow, this is luxury!” After
hearing about all the fancy features of the car, he went on to say, “Well, if you’re going to buy a luxury vehicle, you might as well have it all, right?”

My thoughts exactly. If I was going to purchase the Q5, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Q5 I tested for a week was the 2.0T loaded with the Premium Plus options (Add $3,900) that includes:

• Auto-dimming interior mirror with compass (a plus for someone like me whose eyes are sensitive to other headlights)
• Auto dimming, heated, power-folding exterior mirrors
• Heated front seats with driver memory
• Audi advanced key
• Audi xenon plus lighting w/ LED
• Panoramic sunroof
• Power tailgate
• Aluminum trim

After making the same road trip to Central California that I did last year in the Q5, I’ve come to the conclusion that this is the perfect car for a road trip if you have a small family. If you travel with alot of cargo, the Q5 has the roof rails with crossbars and trailer hitch prewiring.


I don’t have kids yet, but if I did this would be the car for me. I recently took the Q7 for a very long trip up the California coast, but I actually would prefer the Q5 because it’s lighter and easier to weave in and out of L.A. traffic. Plus, it was easy to grab something from the back seat when traveling solo.

The Q5 could also work as a decent commuter vehicle. I got a combined 22.2 mpg, filling up at the 409 mile mark with about 30 miles left in the tank. EPA estimates are 28 mpg highway and 20 mpg city with a combined 23 mpg. I would say I probably had a slightly lower mpg because I drove with the A/C on the majority of the time. Speaking of...

One thing we don’t take for granted in California is air conditioning. Audi has me spoiled with the three-zone automatic climate control, which comes standard. Other comfort features that come standard are the 8-way power front seats with 4-way driver lumbar, privacy glass, rain and light sensor, AM/FM/SAT/1CD audio with SD card reader and aux-in, SIRIUS Satellite radio (3 month complimentary subscription), garage door opener, bluetooth, and music interface with iPod cable.

You don’t necessarily purchase a compact SUV for its speed or quickness, but the Q5’s eight-speed tiptronic transmission with 220 hp and 258 lb of torque is decent and accelerates smoothly. Also, you get the quattro permanent all-wheel-drive. If power is your thing, you could opt for the 3.0L V6 supercharged engine that offers 272 hp, but then you’d lose a little on fuel efficiency.


For those of you who are not familiar with Audi vehicles, the technology and style is where the fun happens. The interior is classy, understated luxury. I liken the Q5 to the Tom Ford or Chanel of luxury vehicles. Then there’s the MMI Navigation plus package ($3,550) that gives you a CD/DVD player w/ HD radio, navigation with voice control, color driver information display, parking system with rearview camera, and online services (wifi 6-month complimentary subscription).

The navigation with voice control comes in handy during road trips when I want to find the next service station or restaurant. The system will let me know how far each place is and in what direction it is located. And with my phone connected through bluetooth, I can simply press the button on the steering wheel and tell the system to call someone in my contacts - for those times when I’m bored to death driving by myself on Interstate 5 in the middle of nowhere Central California.

As far as styling goes, my favorite feature of the Q5 is the headlights. You can spot them from a mile away. It's like being celebrity starstruck, but then you realize you're just looking at a pair of beautiful headlights.


As many Audi vehicles as I’ve reviewed, I seem to learn something new with each one. In the Q5 I discovered that if you don’t want to go over a certain speed limit, you can set an alarm if you drive over your desired limit. I can see this being useful during city driving because I always tend to go over 35 mpg.

At a sticker price of $45,645 for the tester as described with all the comforts and conveniences, it’s about the same price as the base of a Q7. If you can do without a third row of seats, I would buy the Q5 - bells, whistles, and all.

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