Audi Q5 News

New Honda Jazz sets new benchmark for rear view cameras: $14,990.

The SQ5 TDI marks the first time Audi has featured a diesel engine in an S-line model -- and there won’t be very many about, with the production run limited to 50 cars.  Rolling off the line early next year, the car will be priced at €92,000 ($112,000) in Germany - the standard model is €58,000, so that’s a considerable hike. The SQ5 is powered by the 3.0-litre bi-turbo diesel V6 in the Q5 TDI, but with the 176kW/500Nm outputs boosted to deliver 230kW and 650Nm. Audi claims it gets to 100km/h in 5.1 seconds - shaving 1.4 off the Q5’s 6.5 seconds - and will hit a top speed of 250km/h electronically limited. The SQ5 TDI is finished in a crystal-effect blue with the signature S-line aluminium-look side mirrors, xenon headlights with LED running lights and four exhaust tips. The cabin gets black Nappa leather with white contrast stitching, woven leather seat sections and natural grain ash inlays.  

...for three years. But the German brand is always looking for more improvements and the new lamps point to a refresh that could also bring more engine choices for Australia.  

The SQ5 is the first diesel Audi to be developed into an ‘S’ sport line version. It carries a 230kW/650Nm 3.0-litre V6 bi-turbo engine that the German carmaker says will get the SQ5 to 100km/h in a very respectable 5.1 seconds and to a top speed (governed) of 250km/h. An eight-speed automatic transmission delivers the effort to all corners with Audi’s quattro all-wheel drive with torque vectoring. Fuel economy is claimed to be 7.2L/100km, but that is likely to go higher if you speed-test the sports-tuned suspension that squats the SQ5 30mm lower than the normal SUV. You can still put the vehicle to practical use as a carthorse, taking advantage of its 2400kg towing capacity. But it could be the best-dressed SUV in the caravan park with S-logo black brake callipers peeking out through the standard 20-in alloys – or the 21-in optional ones – roof spoiler, special bumpers, aluminium-look grille elements and sporty garnish around the cabin. Will Audi take the next step and top the Q5 line-up with an RS to sit above the SQ5? No word on that yet but the with brand continually pushing its performance technology profile you’d have to suspect it’s being considered. The former stance of having ‘only one RS model at a time’ is long gone, with the badge appearing in the A3, A4, A5 and TT ranges, and with rumours of one on the way to the Q3 as well. For now there’s also no confirmation of whether an Australian launch will follow Europe’s – scheduled for the first quarter of next year. But Audi Australia is not going to dismiss the idea. “I don’t have anything specific for you yet, but I can suggest that it’s a great-sounding package for a country with such a strong SUV market,” general manager of corporate communications, Anna Burgdorf says.  

The updated mid-size SUV is due in Australia late this year or early 2013, with minimal styling changes but plenty of news under the bonnet. Final Australian specifications will be announced closer to launch. However the new Q5 engine choices in Europe include three diesels, two petrols engines and a hybrid -- Audi’s first hybrid drivetrain in a production vehicle. Power will come from a 155kW 2.0 TFSI engine together with a 40kW electric engine. Combined output will be 180kW/480Nm. The hybrid promises a 0-100km/h time of 7.1 seconds and fuel economy of 6.9L/100km. But those figures – and even the enviable torque peak – fall short of the coming 3.0-litre diesel TDI. The top of the range turbodiesel – a 3.0-litre V6 TDI -- delivers 180kW/580Nm, gets from zero to 100km/h in 6.5 seconds and sips just 6.4l/100km. The 2.0-litre turbodiesel is offered in two versions:  a front wheel drive only 105kW/320Nm with average fuel economy of 5.3l/100km, and a quattro drive 130kW/380Nm returning 6.0l/100km.  The 2.0 petrol TFSI engine delivers 165kW/350Nm and returns 7.6l/100km. The 3.0 TFSI engine is a supercharged V6 with outputs of 200kW/400Nm.  Acceleration from zero to 100km/h is claimed to be 5.9 seconds and average fuel consumption a respectable 8.5l/100km. A start-stop system is now standard on all engines and together with improved transmission pairings these are up to 15 precent more fuel efficient than their predecessors. Interior gadgetry includes improved infotainment options, integrated wireless hotspots for the passengers and Google navigation information for the driver. The Internet functionality also allows the use of internet radio which means more than 5000 radio stations can be received. Then there’s the Audi drive select system which lets the driver tweak the characteristics of the accelerator pedal, transmission shift points, power steering and air conditioning load on the engine. There are three additional optional components that can be included in this system: adaptive cruise control, damping control and dynamic steering.  

Audi built its first hybrid production car in 1996 - the Audi duo, driven by a TDI engine and an electric motor.  But it has taken until now for the German manufacturer to begin producing its follow-up hybrid. Audi group communications, product and technology manager Josef Schlossmacher says they will begin making the "first hybrid model of the present generation" in the next few months.  It will be the Q5 hybrid with a 157kW 2.0-litre TFSI engine and a 25kW electric motor. "Following, we will also bring into the market hybrid versions of our big sedans, A8 early in 2012 and a couple of months later the A6," he says.  "At Audi we are convinced that hybrid cars are an important step to the fully electrical drivetrain of the future." However, Australia may not see hybrid Audis for some time yet.  Audi Australia corporate communications manager Nadine Giusti says the Q5 hybrid will only be built in left-hand drive, "so we cannot bring the car here".

The spread of the dealer network aims to keep up with demand caused by a booming population and Australia's strong economy.  Within two years, BMW will see $40 million spent on new or refurbished outlets as it shoots for 50 national dealerships.These include a second dealership in Perth ($15 million), expanded Doncaster (Victoria) premises ($10 million), a North Shore Sydney franchise ($8 million) and a new dealer at Tweed Heads.  The Perth dealership, to be built this year by the existing franchisee, is in the city's expanding northern suburbs.BMW Australia managing director Stavros Yallouridis says the expansion reflects the mechandising concept that takes the product closer to the buyer.  "We are, to a degree, a product for the impulsive buyer," he says."We have to go to the buyer and that redefines the distribution of our products. In many cases, as we expand our products with smaller cars, we have to be in city areas that demand small cars in order to sell to our target market."Yallouridis says the car market was aiming for record highs and, in BMW's case, highlighted by the 1-Series, X1, 5-Series and 7-Series."The X3 comes in next year and there's the 1-Series hatch and coupe, so sales will expand further," he says.The Audi Centre in Perth is more than doubling its floor area, taking over a neighbouring property in the high-end car retail suburb of Osborne Park. The suburb also hosts Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lexus, Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz.The additional building will accommodate the new 26-car showroom - effectively 2.5 times bigger than present - to display one of each of Audi's models.  Dealer principal David Collins says the investment of about $15 million was necessary."The customers demand it and we desperately need the space because of the growth in Audi sales," he says.  "In 2004 we had 120 new car sales. Now we have 1050."Audi's sales are higher than BMW's when you take out the SUVs.  "I've ordered 250 units of the A1 for 2011 because of demand."  Collins says the Q5 was "the most successful car I've ever been involved with".He says it reflects the growing trend of buyers seeking to downsize their cars yet retain quality and luxury.  BMW has recorded a 10.4 per cent national sales growth year-to-date and, with global sales this calendar year of 775,000, has surpassed Mercedes-Benz (735,000) and Audi (726,000).It has since January sold 1156 of its baby X1 SUV - now its third most popular single-body seller after the 3-Series (3326) and X5 (1955) - for 2 per cent of Australia's passenger-car market.Audi has 1.7 per cent of the car market, primed by sales year-to-date of 1458 A3s and 2521 A4s, and Mercedes-Benz has 2.6 per cent thanks primarily to its E-Class stranglehold of the $70,000-plus large luxury car sector and the robust 4242 C-Class sales.

A widely varied field from the soft-roader Audi Q5 to the baby Volkswagen Polo is competing for the biggest prize in world motoring

The X1 lands in Australia next year and will be fresh and new, unlike the larger X3 which has at least two more years before its next major overhaul.  Carparazzi caught the new X3 at the Nurburgring during recent tests and, despite a complete overhaul, the car looks much like the current model.The new X3 will have almost the same dimensions, although its styling will be shaped — Carparazzi says — to reflect some of BMW's work on the CS concept. That means a more prominent grille plus new wraparound headlights.BMW is concentrating on lifting cabin quality in the X3 to combat the gains made by the Audi Q5 and Volvo XC60 which went on sale this year, as well as the Mercedes-Benz GLK which is still being promised for Australia — sometime.The other change for the X3 is that production will be moved to the USA, where it will be built alongside the X5 and X6 models at BMW's factory in Spartanburg, South Carolina.Mechanically, the biggest news is expected to be a twin-turbo engine taken from the 335i model, as well as a 2-litre turbodiesel and — like the larger X-cars — a hybrid model.