Audi Q5 vs Jeep Cherokee

What's the difference?

The new Q5 does a lot right even if it doesn’t feel as resolved from behind the wheel as I had expected.

It catapults one of the oldest premium SUV nameplates into this decade, and all three of its launch powertrain options are great, so you can’t really go wrong.

Each features the smoothness and efficiency of genuine hybrids backed by punchy turbo combustion thrills, while the increase in standard kit across the entire range is notable at a very reasonable price increase.

The Cherokee is perhaps not going to tempt anyone set on a mainstream mid-size family SUV. But, to those on the periphery who are genuinely looking for something different, there’s a lot on offer here.

The proposition is boosted by the Cherokee’s unique off-road equipment and compelling price tag, but just keep in mind it’s old-fashioned in more than just one way…

Proportionally, the new Q5 is quite a departure from its curvaceous predecessors, thanks to a more chiseled bodyline and stronger flares over its wheelarches. While this makes it the biggest stylistic departure for the Q5 ever, embracing its all-new PPC (Premium Platform Combustion) underpinnings, its stylistic motifs are still somehow very familiar.

The traditional Audi grille is maintained, although has been modernised with a geometric pattern and integrated highlight pieces depending on styling package, and even the light profiles manage to be somewhat familiar despite their twinkly new customisable LED elements and contemporary slimline appearance.

A closer look only makes the car feel more contemporary, with strong contours around its face and bumpers, which were absent from its more plain-looking predecessors.

In addition, the brand tells us the Australian market in particular has one of the highest levels of uptake of large wheels, so it offers a range of designs to choose from on the options list, many of which are on the larger side, despite the standard wheel being 19 inches.

The interior is where the biggest changes are. While Audi interiors have been familiar for the longest time, the new Q5’s interior appointments feel dropped directly out of its Q6 e-tron electric alternative.

The result is a completely re-thought approach to the interior design, which is now dominated by huge touchscreens as well as a collection of contemporary shapes and mouldings that transport the Q5 into the current decade.

Still, elements of familiarity are present. The seats feel like Audi seats, the materials are as you’d expect for the brand and the wheel is backed by familiar switchgear.

Part of me wants to like the Cherokee. It’s a refreshingly modern take on the mid-size formula from Jeep. There’s another part of me which thinks it’s a bit soft around the edges with a little too much influence from the likes of the last-generation RAV4, especially around the rear. A smaller, heavily opinionated, part of me says it looks like the kind of car the Hamburgler would drive.

But you can’t deny the black paint with black and grey highlights looks tough. The raised plastic bumpers, small wheels, and red powder-coated recovery hooks speak to this SUV’s off-road ambition. And the package is nicely rounded out with LED light fittings front and rear which cut nice angles around this car’s edges.

Inside is still very… American, but this has been toned down significantly from past Jeep offerings. There are almost no truly awful plastics now, with an abundance of soft-touch surfaces and nicer interaction points.

The wheel is still chunky and leather-clad though, and the multimedia screen is an impressive and bright unit taking centre stage in the dash.

My main complaint with the cabin is the chunky A-pillar which eats a bit of your peripheral vision, but otherwise it’s a plush design.

While the interior might feel as modern as they come, it also brings with it some of the pitfalls of contemporary design themes.

The most obvious is the over-reliance on touch panels for controls. The most egregious example is the lack of physical buttons for the climate control, which is interacted with via a permanent part of the touchscreen, but it doesn’t end there.

On top of this, there are capacitive gloss finish panels for the steering wheel controls, and even a capacitive panel in the door to control the mirrors and lights. It all looks swish, but isn’t the best to use compared to just… buttons.

Apple CarPlay worked flawlessly in my time with various versions of the car, and the stock software is fast and crisp. Interestingly the digital instrument cluster is the most plain version of Audi’s usually stellar virtual instruments yet. Without the big animated cluster dials it used to have it feels a bit less fun to look at.

Adjustability and space is great for front passengers, as is the amount of visibility on offer, plus the seats are as comfortable as ever in all grades.

Storage is ample in the cabin, with big bottle holders in the centre console, large pockets in each door, and a halfway decent centre console. The phone charger sits tucked away at the front with the USB-C outlets and a volume dial.

The back seat is less impressive. The Q5 never had the most spacious second row in this mid-sized segment, but it’s disappointing to see this new-generation car hardly improves on the formula. It’s spacious enough for me at 182cm tall behind my own driving position, with enough room for my knees and airspace for my head, but it’s certainly not as spacious as many rivals. In addition, the centre position is compromised by a huge rise in the floor, making it a hard pitch for an adult to sit there.

On the plus side, there’s plenty of amenities with bottle holders in each door, a further two in the drop-down armrest, netted pockets on the backs of the front seats, and an entire third rear climate zone with touch panel temperature control and physical air vents. There’s also two USB-C outlets.

One trade-off for the small second row is a large boot. It measures 520 litres with five seats up, or 1473L with the second row down. It also comes with a few neat things like a net and sliding cover.

Unfortunately, while there’s a small amount of underfloor storage, there’s no spare wheel, with Audi only offering a tyre repair kit.

The plushness makes for a comfortable environment, particularly for front passengers who benefit (in this case) from power adjustable seats, telescopically adjustable steering column and faux-leather trimmed padded surfaces pretty much everywhere.

There are small bottle holders in the doors, big bottle holders in the centre console, a large armrest box, and a small trench in front of the transmission stick. Sadly the Cherokee seems to miss out on the secret compartment under the seat base which the smaller Compass gets.

Back seat occupants get a decent, but not impressive, amount of space. I’m 182cm tall and had a small amount of airspace for my knees and head. There are small bottle holders in the doors, pockets on the back of both front seats, a set of movable air vents and USB ports on the back of the centre console, plus large bottle holders in the drop-down armrest.

Seat trim all-around has to be commended for being ultra-soft and comfortable, albeit not super supportive.

The second row is on rails, allowing you to max out boot space if need be.

Speaking of boot space, it’s a tough one to compare to other models because Jeep is insistent on using the SAE standard rather than the VDA standard (as one is more or less a liquid measurement, and the other is one made up of cubes, they are impossible to convert). Regardless, the Cherokee managed to consume all three items in our luggage set with ease, so it at very least has a competitive standard boot capacity.

The floor in our Trailhawk was carpeted, and a luggage cover comes standard. Worth noting is how high the boot floor is off the ground. This limits the space available, but is required for the full-size spare hidden under the floor, a must for long-distance drivers.

Does it represent good value for the price? In a word: Yes.

Let’s take a look. The Trailhawk is the most expensive Cherokee you can buy, yet at $48.450 you’ll get stacks of gear. In fact, you’ll get more stuff than is packed in to most of its mid- to high-spec mainstream rivals.

The question is whether you’ll even want it. This is because while the Cherokee might tick key mid-size spec boxes, its real advantage is in the off-road gear sitting underneath it.

This is one of very few front- drive biased, transverse-mounted engine SUVs to get a locking rear differential, low-range transfer case, and a series of rather serious computer-controlled off-road modes.

Impressive stuff if you’re ever going to take it onto sand or scrabbling up gravel surfaces, potentially of little value if there’s no chance you’ll be doing any of those things.

Regardless, the standard road-going kit is great. Included is LED headlights, leather seats, keyless entry and push-start, an 8.0-inch multimedia touchscreen with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, sat nav and DAB+ digital radio, auto wipers, anti-glare rear vision mirror, and 17-inch alloys.

Those wheels might seem a bit small by high-spec SUV standards, but are more focused on being off-road ready.

Our car was also fitted with the ‘Premium Pack’ ($2950) which adds some luxury touches like heated and cooled front seats with memory power adjust, carpeted boot floor, distance control for the active cruise (more on that in the safety section of this review), and black painted wheels.

Here’s where things get interesting. Despite featuring three carryover engine options, the Q5’s big upgrade is the introduction of a hybrid system.

The brand calls this technology MHEV+, which I think is underselling what the system can actually do. Normally a mild hybrid (MHEV) system consists of higher-voltage electrics to assist auxiliary systems and take a small amount of load off the engine, or provide a more robust stop/start system, but this new Audi tech consists of an 18kW/230Nm electric motor placed after the seven-speed transmission that can motivate the entire vehicle under electric power for small periods. It can recapture up to 25kW of energy and is supported by a 1.7kWh battery pack.

The three engine options supported by this include the base TFSI 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo front-wheel drive (150kW/340Nm), the mid-spec TDI 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel (150kW/400Nm) exclusively in all-wheel drive, or the SQ5’s 3.0-litre turbo-petrol V6 (270kW/550Nm).

There’s no disappointments here. All powertrains feel up to the task, and for those of you waiting for an all-wheel drive base petrol or a plug-in hybrid, the brand assures us both are on the way soon.

The Cherokee shows its star-spangled heritage here with a rather old-school drivetrain.

Under the bonnet is a 3.2-litre ‘Pentastar’ non-turbo V6. It produces 200kW/315Nm which you might note isn’t much more than a lot of turbocharged 2.0-litre alternatives these days.

If you were hoping for a diesel as a more attractive option for long-distance travel, tough luck, the Trailhawk is V6 petrol only.

The engine is perhaps at odds with the modern nine-speed torque converter automatic transmission, and the Trailhawk is one of the few front-biased, non-ladder chassis-based vehicles to have a low-range crawl gear and locking rear differential.

The Trailhawk drives all four wheels.

All engine options are also relatively efficient, although the total fuel reduction from the introduction of this new MHEV+ hybrid technology is surprisingly small. Audi says it saves up to 0.74L/100km and 17g/100km of C02, which doesn’t sound like a lot for a system that can pull the whole car.

Regardless, fuel consumption is 5.7L/100km for the TFSI 2.0L FWD petrol, 5.4L/100km for the TDI 2.0L AWD diesel, or 7.6L/100km for the 3.0-litre petrol V6 SQ5. The emissions are also relatively low for a premium SUV.

In the spirit of keeping the hard-done-by fuel conglomerates in business, this V6 is as thirsty as it sounds. This is compounded by the fact that the Trailhawk weighs in at close to two tonnes.

The official claimed/combined figure is already not great at 10.2L/100km, but our week-long test produced a figure of 12.0L/100km. Not a good look when many of the Cherokee’s mid-size competitors are at least in the single-digit range, even in real-world testing.

In a small concession, you’ll be able to fill up (annoyingly frequently) with entry-level 91RON unleaded. The Cherokee has a 60L fuel tank.

To drive the Q5 is familiar in some ways and less familiar in others. The initial impression is good, with each variant being relatively quiet on the road, offering a nice adjustability and driving position, with great visibility around the car.

The new powertrain options are all a joy to pilot, with all feeling punchy and smooth-shifting through the seven-speed auto. This smoothness is helped along by the introduction of the new MHEV+ tech, which can push the car along at reasonable speeds without needing the engine to assist.

It might not be quite as punchy as some other hybrid systems in terms of overall assist, but it’s certainly better than other systems we’ve seen on the market that barely help with driving or smoothness, and end up being a cynical emissions-saving device. It’s nice to see this tech is a step forward for the brand.

The familiar Q5 driving points are mostly intact, too, with the most notable upgrade being the ride comfort. This car is much more adept at dealing with road imperfections than its predecessor, with a softer suspension response.

This having been said, I expected more from this ground-up new platform. Each version of this Q5 I sampled felt less dynamically engaging than its predecessor. The usually sharp Audi steering tune feels a bit disconnected in this new car, with a little bit too much electrical and software assist, and the suspension, while more comfortable, isn’t as engaging in the corners.

It, too, lends the car a disconnected feeling over undulations and corrugations, giving the new Q5 an overall less resolved feeling from behind the wheel than I would have liked. The previous car was a bit sharp, but at least it was consistent in the way it responded to the road.

The previous car started to feel old towards the end of its run. Previous Audi owners will enjoy how this new car catapults the nameplate into this decade in terms of its cabin ambiance and general demeanour, it would have just been nice to see the consistency return, too.

The Cherokee drives pretty much exactly how it looks, soft and ‘murican.

As thirsty as the V6 might be, it’s fun in a kind of retro way to be behind the wheel. It makes lots of angry noises and flies up the rev range (into fuel-drinkin’ town) all too easily, although despite that you might notice you’re not going particularly fast the whole time.

This is largely down to the Cherokee’s overbearing weight. Not great for fuel usage, it does have benefits for comfort and refinement.

On tarmac, and even gravel surfaces, the interior is impressively quiet. There’s little road noise or suspension rattle, and even the fury of the V6 is more of a distant thrum.

Gravity takes its toll in the corners, where the Cherokee hardly feels like a confident apex carver. The steering is light though, and the long-travel suspension is soft and forgiving. This makes for a refreshing SUV experience which places the focus solely on comfort over sportiness.

It’s also a nice point of difference from many mainstream competitors which seem hell-bent on making mid-size family SUVs handle like sports sedans or hatchbacks.

A test of the off-road features was a little outside the scope of our regular weekly test, although a thrashing down a few gravel tracks only served to confirm my confidence in the comfort suspension tune and stability of the standard all-wheel drive mode on offer.

In its last update the Cherokee acquired an active safety suite consisting of auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection, forward collision warning, lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring, rear-cross traffic alert, and active cruise control.

The Trailhawk Premium Pack adds distance control (via a button on the steering wheel).

The Cherokee is also armed with six airbags, a reversing camera and parking sensors. It has dual ISOFIX child-seat mounting points on the outer rear seats.

Only four-cylinder Cherokees have been ANCAP safety tested (and scored a maximum five stars in 2015). This six-cylinder version does not carry a current ANCAP safety rating.

Audi continues to offer its fairly standard five-year and unlimited kilometre warranty with five years of roadside assist and this is paired with the option of a five-year service plan.

This costs an additional $3520 ($704 per year) for the 2.0-litre variants, or $3560 ($712 per year) for the 3.0-litre V6-powered SQ5. Servicing is required every 1500km or 12 months.

Jeep has upped its ownership promise in the past few years with what it calls the “there and back guarantee”. This consists of a five-year/100,000km warranty and matching capped price service program.

It’s a shame the warranty is distance-limited, but time-wise is on par with Japanese makers. While the capped price service program is welcome, it's almost twice as expensive as an equivalent RAV4.

According to Jeep’s online calculator, services varied from $495 to $620 on this particular variant.

Roadside assist is offered beyond the warranty period provided you continue to service your vehicle at an authorized Jeep dealership.