2019 Audi Q5 vs Porsche Macan

What's the difference?

The Q5 is the most popular SUV in Audi’s line-up and for good reason, or for at least seven good reasons, as you’ll see after reading this review of the 50 TDI Quattro Sport.

Yes, if you’ve been looking at BMW’s X3 or Mercedes-Benz’s GLC you need to stop and read this before you make any final decisions, because I’ve just lived with this Q5 for a week and, having handed it back, I’m missing it already. Which is really saying something, because I’m now test driving a Bentley Bentayga.

If the Cayenne saved Porsche, the Macan consolidated its gains. SUVs print money for premium manufacturers, and you only have to have seen the Germans pivot to SUVs as their first major EV products to get the full force of what these types of cars mean.

The Macan held the distinction in Australia of being the first affordable Porsche, breaking well below $80,000 and nabbing yet more customers who had never thought, or ever dreamt, that they could take the wheel of one of Stuttgart's finest.

And with the sort of commercial and marketing nous few can manage, the fact it was basically an Audi Q5 largely passed unremarked. Possibly because the Q5 is pretty good to start with, but also because the Macan feels like a totally different car.

It's already time for a facelift, and in true Porsche style it's a hard one to spot. We've already driven the mid-spec S, but now it's time to get to grips with the base spec Macan.