• Five combustion engines available
• Three petrols and two diesels
• All offer strong performance

The Audi Q5 was available with both petrol and diesel engines. If you spend most of your time beetling around town, we’d recommend you steer clear of the diesels as their DPFs are known to clog up with low-speed driving. If you’re a motorway muncher, go for the diesel. We’re sure you’ll love the extra torque and fuel economy.

Petrol engines

The Audi Q5’s entry-level engine was a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol unit. It’s smooth and happy to be pushed with an eager nature and plenty of pace thanks to its turbocharger. It has a 0–62mph time of 7.2 seconds and its 214hp is hugely enjoyable to exploit, while fuel economy is a respectable 33mpg.

It’s was offered with either a of six-speed manual gearbox or seven-speed automatic, but the latter unit was by far the more popular choice with buyers. So, you’ll find a lot more of those kicking around on the classifieds.

Early Q5s were available with a 270hp 3.2-litre V6 petrol, but it was replaced by a 276hp 3.0-litre V6 in early 2012 for the reliability issues we mentioned on the first page of this review. The new engine was fitted with a supercharger and had a 0–62mph time of just 5.9 seconds and a fuel economy figure of 33.2mpg.

Diesel engines

The jumping-off point for the diesel Q5 range is a 172hp 2.0-litre four-cylinder unit. Unsurprisingly, it’s the most cost-effective option here – plentiful supply keeps prices down, road tax is affordable and it can achieve as much as 42mpg.

It’s refined and offers plenty of low-down grunt, although it can get a little breathless at higher speeds. The engine is teamed with a six-speed manual gearbox, which we thought had very positive shift action when we last tested the car.

The second diesel is Audi’s excellent 3.0-litre V6 TDI. It produces 258hp in its most potent trim, which is enough to shunt the Q5 from 0–62mph in just 6.0 seconds. That’s quicker than a Golf GTI of the same vintage. Plus, it has huge reserves of pulling power available from low down.

Like the 2.0-litre petrol, the 3.0 TDI was fitted with a seven-speed S tronic automatic gearbox as standard which offers smooth and super-quick changes.

A limited edition, performance-focused 313bhp SQ5 was announced in mid-2012, with first deliveries in early 2013. This car could dash from 0–62mph in 5.1 seconds and hit a top speed of 155mph. Read our dedicated Audi SQ5 review to find out what we think of it.

Parkers recommends

Although the 2.0 TFSI petrol makes the Q5 great fun to drive, the 2.0-litre turbodiesel makes by far the most sense for its lower running costs and healthy residual values.

It might have been classed as ‘off-roader’ when it was new, but the Q5 is definitely designed for tarmac. It does come with some off-road technology, however, such as hill descent control which allows you to safely navigate a steep downward slope. There’s also an off-road setting for the traction control.

But even Audi admitted that precious few owners would ever take their Q5s onto tricky terrain. Instead, the Q5 is a road-focussed 4x4 that drives like a car. Body control is excellent and the precise and responsive steering allows you to turn into corners with plenty of confidence. We thought that, despite the higher ground clearance, it was a very agile car. Its strong brakes only add to that reassuring feel.

The optional ‘Audi drive select’ system allows the driver to alter the characteristics of the car, including the suspension settings, steering, throttle response and gear change points (on the automatic) via a button on the centre console. If you’re a bit of a technophile, we reckon you’ll enjoy the extra adjustability.