visualguy

What about turbo lag? Some people say that the initial response of the Q5 TDI isn't so great because of turbo lag, and that's where the Q5 3.0T and SQ5 have an advantage.

idale

You get going quickly, and in D8 I went from 80 to 95 in a matter of seconds before I noticed while passing the other day. So I'd say there's sufficient power here.

In D it's a little slow off the line, but in S there's no hesitation at all. It seems like it's more of a programming thing where D is meant to be laid-back and S is meant to be sporty -- and both serve their functions well.

Mark P

Go for a testdrive. It's pretty nasty (in a good way) in the 0-60 range. I've owned many modified (stg 1-3) turbo cars, including my "stock" (X50 bigger turbo pkg) 911 turbo, and I use all the power all of those had (full boost, redline, etc), and I'm *very* happy with the power of the TDI. It's much more impressive accelerating at slow speeds than fast ones, but it still passes just fine on the highway. It seriously feels like it's faster than anything on the street 0-60 which clearly isn't true, but it feels that way or at least comes fown to driver. Mist here will likely never use the full power though so thise extremes and tge differences between peak power or times is moot. Leave the decidion to how the engine performs in the ranges of interest to you

Loafer123

I echo your observations and experience. The Q5 TDI moves very quickly.

Coolieman1220

you sir have clearly never driven a modern diesel engine. go test drive one. anyone, even a jetta tdi. highway passing is where a diesel shines. in top gear on the highway the tdi will leave an SQ5 in the dust during top gear highway acceleration.

davidjz

I hope a current owner of an SQ5 can counter this one....I continue to live vicariously for others for another eight months and have opted for an SQ over the TDI

idale

The TDI's torque should give it a jump on the S, but of course that (small) lead wouldn't last for long as the S has the top end taken care of.

Just need two nearby owners (one of each) to do some controlled runs to answer these burning questions that don't really matter in typical use cases. In typical uses I fully expect the performance of most Q5s to be very similar and it's more down to other factors on what engine is "right" for you.

visualguy

Probably true, at least in the US. The differences may be more apparent in Germany on the Autobahn.

The more interesting question in my view is how different the Q5 TDI or SQ5 are from the S4/S5 in terms of handling and general driving experience. I love the S4/S5, but not the A6 3.0T, for example, even though the A6 has the same engine. I don't know if Audi has been able to replicated some or most of the S4/S5 experience in the SQ5, and it doesn't look like I can test drive the SQ5 or the Q5 TDI for that matter.

Mark P

Owning a Q5 TDI, and really liking it (and it's power), and having never driven an SQ5, I find that statement extremely hard to believe.

I have a 3.0T right now and think that alone might be quicker (than my TDI) in this case.

Maybe I'll log both in the next few days in matching circumstances and compare...

EDIT: I overlooked the "top gear" part of the statement. Yes, in top gear (8th) with similar RPMs for each, it will put the TDI in it's wheelhouse for torque, which effectively dictates acceleration. I said the same thing in this thread here:
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho...php?p=24504521

Mark P

eh, I think more time is spent with the tranny switching gears, which would affect both equally/similarly. For real world scenarios that is. If you're in M and choosing the best gear, then mashing the accelerator at the same time, there could be a difference from the turbo lag, but that scenario is not the typical real world scenario.

The TDI also has a small turbo, variable vanes, and a ton of torque at low RPM anyway. So it's turbo lag is very minimal compared to most anything else out there. And from a stop it's non-existent. 1st gear is geared so low, it's gone in an instant, not even enough time for boost to get to a steady point. It's a blast