Audi Q5: Buff luxe in a guilt-lite package

Nice review here of the Audi Q5 by the L.A. Times.

The Q5 shares a chassis and greasy bits with the A4 sedan/wagon: direct-injection 3.2-liter, 270-horsepower V-6; a six-speed automatic with manual-shift mode (Tiptronic); and Audi's proprietary all-wheel drive system, branded as Quattro. All of this is honeyed with the eerie lack of stiction and micro-machined smoothness that is now typical of Audi powertrains.

You can appreciate these cars on many levels, but for me, a shade-tree mechanic, Audi's dazzling, aerospace-like fusion of electronics and metallurgy makes me want to throw my toolbox into a lake.

The A4's interior fitments -- switches, instruments and readouts -- have been transplanted wholesale into the Q5 and wrapped in leather stitched tighter than Barry Manilow's face. Likewise, the cockpit exhibits the same degree of agonized-over craftsmanship as the sedan's. There are none of those cost-saving plugs that cover exposed screws, no gaps between interior panels.

Related news: GermanCarBlog, P4MR, Audi Q5

Source: LA Times

Audi Q5: Buff luxe in a guilt-lite package

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