Originally Posted by russ0054

Every Audi I have driven, while shopping for the Q5 I eventually purchased, as well as the loaners I drove while mine was at the shop, have had the "throttle tip-in" lag. It's not a "drive by wire" issue as I have driven many late model cars which are drive by wire and NONE of those cars had the Audi delay. The tip-in lag coupled with the poor shifting trans make for a very frustrating city drive.

The poor shifting in my car (and apparently many others) is a product of poor engineering on the part of those who designed the TCU shifting profile. The fact that Audi is aware of the issue and has only made a feeble attempt at a resolution speaks volumes about their customer staisfaction orientation.

I must say that Lexus has figured it out as evidenced by that manufacturers ownership of the #1 rating.

When ya spend 50K for a car it's gotta be more than just transportation - ya gotta love it and it's difficult to love the Q5!

Originally Posted by john1r

Couldn't have said it better myself. There are entirely too many people complaining about this to not think that it's anything but a real problem (kind of like the water pump issue which indeed turned out to be a real issue, not just a few random people on a forum complaining).

There is absolutely no way that our cars are supposed to be driving like this. People (and service managers) constantly post (or tell us) that this is just how Audis are, or you have drive by wire, or some other technical or non-technical reason/excuse. But simply put it is NOT normal, NOT how any Q5 that I test drove was and NOT how many other forum members describe their driving experience.

Many people have commented that they can't even tell when the car is shifting. I would gladly even accept barely noticing in mine. However, the shifts are so completely noticeable and annoying when driving around town. Combined with the lag it makes for a miserable (and sometimes dangerous/scary) driving experience.

Highways are a totally different story. Car flies along, has great passing speed, etc... But at low speeds, when braking, accelerating and shifting are required, it's just awful.

I think I mentioned in another post that I recently rented a 2010 or 2011 Honda Civic and nearly got into an accident when I pulled out of the lot because I'm so used to having to gun it just to get my Q5 going that when I pressed a little more than moderately hard on the Civic's accelerator I nearly flew across the road and into a parked car. The entire driving experience (not including the cheap feel and lack of passing power once moving) with the civic was honestly more pleasurable than with my Q5. Driving around town was a complete joy. I was able to take off after a red light, stop at stop signs and quickly take off again without the transmission trying to figure out what gear it wanted to be in, etc...

At this point I've had Audi look at it several times and tell me it's all normal. They've done whatever updates they can and nothing has helped.

Sorry for the long rant but I'm really just tired of everyone having excuses and telling me it's normal, it'll go away, etc... It's simply not normal, is not going away (it got better for a while but has come back) and makes for a miserable driving experience (highway not included).