2021 Audi Q5 review: The popular kid

The Audi Q5 is popular, like seriously popular. Audi moved far more than 50,000 of them in the US previous calendar year, sufficient to make the Q5 the brand’s most effective-marketing solution. In truth, Audi sent virtually 2 times as lots of Q5s as it did Q3s, its next most-popular design. You can blame today’s SUV-obsessed motorists for this lopsided showroom overall performance, but which is only part of the tale, simply because from refinement and functions to luxurious and overall performance there is certainly plenty to like about the 2021 Audi Q5.

This crossover’s appears to be have been refined for 2021, though the improvements are subtle. The prominent Singleframe grille is somewhat broader than prior to and its outer trim is slimmer. Flanking that conspicuous opening are conventional LED headlamps. The Q5’s sills have been reworked and it has a new rear diffuser insert and accent strip on the hatch. Improved as it might be, it’s nonetheless debatable no matter if the Q5 is far more interesting than the BMW X3, Lincoln Corsair or Volvo XC60, a few of its key rivals.

Tug on just one of the Q5’s exterior door handles and you’re greeted with a extremely nice interior. The dashboard’s structure is interesting and purposeful, angled somewhat toward the driver so virtually almost everything is within simple attain. Apart from its leather seating surfaces, which neither look very good nor come to feel nice, the Q5’s content excellent is commonly fantastic, with plenty of attractively grained smooth plastics. Even now, in this illustration, a minor contrast would be nice. Dim-brown, open-pore wooden accents on the black dashboard and door panels look a minor dour. Like in other Audis, the Q5’s numerous switches and knobs come to feel terrific, with all the buttons producing the exact pronounced clicking sound when pressed.

Front and centre on the dashboard is a new 10.one-inch display, home to Audi’s MIB three infotainment process. Exceptionally responsive and simple to use, this is just one of the better multimedia arrays on the market place currently. For included convenience, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are conventional, with the previous smartphone-mirroring process capable to hook up wirelessly to the Q5. If you’re rocking a Google-powered mobile phone make absolutely sure to provide a cable. One nifty accessible characteristic is Audi Virtual Cockpit In addition, which puts a vivid twelve.three-inch digital instrument cluster suitable in front of the driver. This set up provides a great deal of operation yet is nonetheless exceedingly simple to use.

Maximizing the Q5’s safety, this SUV comes conventional with blind-location checking, lane-departure warning, parking sensors at equally finishes and even rear cross-targeted traffic inform, which can be a godsend in crowded parking heaps. My tester is also equipped with a crisp 360-diploma digital camera process and adaptive cruise management, equally of which get the job done very well. Other goodies included in the $four,800 Top quality In addition deal are a panoramic sunroof, automobile-dimming mirrors and lane-retaining help that previous characteristic is typically powerful, though occasionally it does get perplexed when just one lane splits into two. Audiophiles are absolutely sure to respect the accessible 19-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound process, which delivers terrific audio excellent for just $950. 

The Q5’s front seats are broad and business, and significantly far more cozy than they look. However, the back bench’s 38 inches of legroom is merely Alright, getting a little bit of a squeeze for 6-footers. The X3 and Corsair both have a slight advantage in this place. But no issue your height, the Q5’s somewhat slender rear doors can make ingress and egress a little bit of challenge.

In the cargo hold, Q5s equipped with a sunroof supply 25.6 cubic toes of storage place. Fold the backrests down and that figure grows to fifty three.5 cubes. Once again, equally the X3 and Corsair have an edge, though there is certainly nonetheless plenty of luggage place in this Audi.

Q5 45 TFSI styles are powered by a 2.-liter turbo-four. Smoother than buttercream frosting and quieter than a youngster which is up to no very good, this refined engine delivers a strong 261 horsepower (an boost of 13 for 2021) along with 273 pound-toes of torque. The engine also gains a twelve-volt gentle-hybrid process, which is utilised to easy out get started-end situations, and indeed they are virtually imperceptible. That hybrid hardware does not, however, do nearly anything to enhance overall performance. Rounding out this utility vehicle’s underneath-hood bits is a 7-velocity twin-clutch automated transmission and Quattro all-wheel travel with Extremely technological know-how, which engages the rear axle when additional traction is wanted and leaves it disconnected in normal conditions for increased gasoline economic climate.

Speaking of performance, the conventional Q5 stickers at 23 miles for every gallon close to town and 28 mpg on the highway when burning high quality gasoline, which is what’s recommended. Combined, it’s rated at 25 mpg, a useless-precise estimate in blended use I managed to normal 25.5 mpg according to the excursion computer.

Economic system be damned, if you bury the accelerator this Audi’s drivetrain is saucy sufficient to get you to sixty mph in 5.7 seconds. Acceleration is solid thanks to abundant midrange torque, the twin-clutch gearbox shifting promptly and efficiently. If only it were far more responsive at small speeds. Off the line, this transmission is annoyingly lethargic, behaving virtually like it’s not reacting to throttle inputs. This sluggishness tends to make the Q5 come to feel slow and unresponsive until finally it’s shifting at double-digit speeds, at which issue it’s very enjoyable. Switching to Dynamic method enhances points a little bit, but regretably, isn’t going to completely rectify the issue. If you want even increased overall performance than this edition provides, the plug-in hybrid Q5 and SQ5 styles are also accessible.

Regardless of rolling on optional 20-inch, five-spoke wheels, this Q5’s trip is amazingly supple. Only the major impacts transmit any harshness to the passenger compartment. Even though its trip is easy, the vehicle’s system remains very well controlled while cornering, not that it’s a canyon-carver. Typical for an Audi, the Q5’s steering is featherlight at parking-great deal speeds, which tends to make it a snap to maneuver close to pedestrians or shopping buggies pedestrians were way too lazy to stow in a cart corral. The wheel’s excess weight will increase nicely at increased velocities for increased stability.

Underway, the Q5’s cabin remains extremely refined, with virtually no discernible wind or street sound breaching its NVH defenses. The way it carries itself at velocity is similarly extraordinary. It feels like you’re accomplishing about 55 mph when the speedometer needle is pointing at 80 mph. On far more than a handful of occasions I’ve had to dial points back simply because I was inadvertently driving drastically more rapidly than the posted restrict.

A different point which is significant is the Q5’s value — drastically fewer than you might assume, that is. This motor vehicle kicks off at an exceedingly fair $forty four,395, a figure that includes requisite vacation spot expenses, which appear to $one,095. The Top quality In addition design proven listed here with optional navigation, the upgraded sound process, 20-inch wheels and a couple other extras buzzes the cash sign-up for $fifty three,040, an completely good value.

Apart from some iffy leather inside of and the transmission’s regrettable small-velocity overall performance, the 2021 Audi Q5 is a worthwhile luxurious SUV, just one you ought to look at if you’re shopping for a motor vehicle in this phase. Following my time in this just one, it’s simple to see why the Q5 is the four-ring brand’s bestselling design.