123Audi4me

New Car and Driver article comparing the latest Q5, X3 and Evoque all with similar 2.0T engines. A little disappointing to say the least. C and D raved over the Q5 in previous articles...
http://www.caranddriver.com/comparis...omparison-test

Q5 Bob

The Q5 was also Consumer Reports top rated small luxury cuv but was recently surpased by the X3 and RDX in their ratings. In the auto biz time marches on and new models come along that replace the older models.

I'm sure the next gen Q5 will raise the bar again.

Mitch105

Depends on what you are looking for. For one I am a car and driver reader for 30+ years. It is a shell of its former glory especially the writing. But not just the writing the style and the type of articles are just not there. The design has also lost its way countless times and is a mess. C and D was never good for photos but it is just plain sad now. I read road and track the other day and found much more interest. That is crazy that r and t would be more enjoyable and enthusiast than c and d.

That being said, having driven the x3 and owned bmws it is a good driving car that is fun to drive. But as is usual, c and d overlooks the fact that the quality of the x3 unless fully fully fully loaded is an abomination next to the quality of the q5. The bmw is so cheap. And it has very poor road prescence unless again, fully specd and even then barely. The q5 on the other hand is a class act that feels and looks expensive. It holds its own with cars twice the price. Drive quality is excellent in the same class easily as the x3. When taken on the whole the audi is the killer in this category and is the number 1 car period. The land rover style is amazing though. Too bad it is only skin deep. Otherwise looks and feels like it is made by Mazda aside from design and seats.

123Audi4me

Thanks for you comments. I couldn't help but notice that your Q5 on order will be your 4th car with a 2.0T engine and your 2nd Q5 with it. You must really like this engine. I have a Q5 on order with the 2.0T but seriously considered going with the 3.0T or waiting for the 3.0TDI. Can you share some information about this engine, performance, maintenance requirements, fuel requirments, MPG, etc. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.

ErnestHouse

There are a couple things about the article that, to me, bespeak a predisposed outcome. IMHO, the comparo and article may have been designed simply to ensure that outcome. It's not that there was a bias, that would imply some gumption at least. No, just some reason(s) for a certain one to "win" (this time).

It's telling when a writer resorts to a food metaphor to review a car. There's no credibility at that point. And, if they only do it for one of the cars in a comparo, there's even less credibility. Metaphors are just a ploy to manipulate. They offer no credible information from a methodology perspective. And somehow, for a magazine supposedly geared toward enthusiasts there was a good portion (majority) of the first page given to cougars, elephants, Starbucks density and how lobsters secrete urine.

Yet nothing was mentioned of some real differences between the cars. One that comes to mind is the Q5's intelligent roof rack. And for all the hullabaloo and knashing of teeth for a return to hydraulic steering like the good "old days" for the "connected to the road feel", the small matter that the Audi shifter actually .... wait for it ... SHIFTS went unnoticed and filler written about dinner rolls and Starbucks in Birmingham. Meanwhile, the X3 has a el cheapo feeling "not connected to the tranny at all" feeling like a PC Flight Simulator joy stick from the 1990s, you can get DHP on any X3 but in the US, only on the Prestige 3.0T Q5, the Evoque design language has a visceral effect on people while the Q5 and X3 don't....

I could go on and on but so much is really subjective and the cars so similar, naming a "winner" has value only to the marketing and sales departments that can then go claim it .... using it as a tool to manipulate people. Car and Driver Small Luxury SUV winner is a nice sound bite. Or adds to the tally of "Wins" to boast about.

Readers would have been better served by good information and expert research on things not limited by the cars to test but are important to people. For instance, why do so many people test drive them and think the Q5 is hands down quieter yet the meter says they are the same? Another good example would be the power plants available on each car. One thing I did learn from the article is how lobsters **** so it's not all a loss.

mwaarna

From the comments on the article which I found interesting:

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...commend-page-2

123Audi4me

I know and the articles are from the same magazine and are written for the same model year Q5. Makes one wonder if there was some "contribution" by BMW...

dougnash

Those "articles" are rubbish. But (no offense to those who still turn those pages) so too are those old magazines. Internet forums and live video feeds have replaced so much of the need for such "reviews".

As for the point about the shifters. You're spot on. I really enjoyed the way the X3 335 drove. Very serious performance. But that "shifter" was a deal killer for me. It's total trash, and even makes the MBZ taxi-cab column shifter feel decent.

I sure hope Audi keeps the great physical linkage shifter in models to come, but I have my doubts. Sadly.

Q5 Bob

I enjoy reading car reviews and comparos, even the ones I may not agree with.

Just because I don't agree with them doesn't make them, or the publication bad.

As far as the C&D and Consumer Reports ratings go, I don't have any major disagreements with them.

After cross shopping both (as well as the GLK which wasn't included in either review), we decided on the Q5 because it met our needs in several areas better than the X3.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Omeletpants

Don't take it personally that Audi didnt win. Other companies are innovating and competing also. They aren't stupid. Like in most businesses it's a leap frog thing. Eventually the Q5 will be top rated again.

This competition has rasied car making to an all time high. Even those lowest valued manufacturers make decent cars and the best ones make fabulous cars.

Many of you werent around in the 60s and 70s when all cars were pretty much garbage in comparison to today